Nico Porteous - Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to snow sports
Zoi Sadowski-Synnott - Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to snow sports
Nico Porteous and Zoi Sadowski-Synnott continue to show age is merely a number.
In 2018, the pair made headlines when they claimed Winter Olympic bronze at just 16 years old. With her third-place finish in the snowboard big air, Sadowski-Synnott became New Zealand’s youngest Winter Olympics medallist; skier Porteous took that mantle later the same day when he earned the same result in the halfpipe.
This year, they added to their Olympic achievements as they each picked up a gold medal in Beijing, with Sadowski-Synnott also bagging a silver to complete her collection. Add several impressive performances at the World Championships and X Games, and the 21-year-olds have been quick to make their mark on their sports.
To top off what has been a memorable year for both athletes, they have been appointed members of the New Zealand Order of Merit in this year’s New Year Honours.
They aren’t the only snow sport athletes to be among this year’s recipients either, with alpine skier and Paralympic gold medallist Corey Peters also appointed a member of the New Zealand Order of Merit after claiming a gold and silver in Beijing.
“That is pretty insane,” Sadowski-Synnott told Newstalk ZB of receiving the award. “Even to be asked to submit an application in itself was a huge thing for me, then to be told I would be on that list is pretty exciting.
“I’m very proud and honoured to be one of those people among a huge range who have done amazing things for New Zealand and I hope I can keep making New Zealand proud.”
It was a sentiment Porteous shared.
“It’s pretty nuts. I think we would both agree it’s pretty incredible to be so young and have the achievements that we have under our belts,” he told Newstalk ZB of his and Sadowski-Synnott’s achievements. “We’re definitely very grateful and thankful for the support that we receive.”
While posting similar results at the Winter Olympics in February, Porteous and Sadowski-Synnott went on to have very different campaigns throughout the rest of the year. Sadowski-Synnott continued her banner year with X Games gold in big air and slopestyle, as well as being awarded the Lonsdale Cup by the NZOC; Porteous claimed X Games gold in the superpipe but had his year derailed by a knee injury that kept him out of action for nine months.
“It’s sort of been that these crazy things have happened at each end and the middle has just been rehabbing an injury,” Porteous said.
“It’s been a strange year, but definitely the best year of my life. I’ve learned a lot and I’ve achieved some of my dreams.”
Porteous was back on his skis recently, as he looks to return to full fitness. However, he doesn’t want to rush his recovery and will be taking the next Northern Hemisphere season off in order to return to full health for the following campaign. Instead, he will be moving behind the lens.
“I’m not going to push it into competing,” he said.
“I’m young and I didn’t want to push back and increase the chances of reinjury, so I’m actually going to be working a little bit more on the creative side of skiing this Northern Hemisphere season. I’ve got a couple of film projects I’m hoping to release, and to really flex that creative muscle a little bit more and try to make some cool pieces of content.”
