Zoi Sadowski-Synnott performs a trick during the slopestyle qualification today. Photo / Getty
Zoi Sadowski-Synnott performs a trick during the slopestyle qualification today. Photo / Getty
Four years ago, after being unable to land her slopestyle jumps in Pyeongchang, a 16-year-old Zoe Sadowski-Synnott said she "never wanted to feel that way again".
Today in Beijing the snowboarder is primed to experience an emotion that no Kiwi Winter Olympian has ever felt.
Sadowski-Synnott will be the 12th and last athlete underway in the women's slopestyle final that starts at 2.30pm, chasing her place in history as the first New Zealand athlete to win gold at the Winter Games (follow live coverage here on the Herald).
After blitzing her competition on Saturday to qualify for the final in a commanding first place, the 20-year-old confirmed her status as a gold-medal contender and banished any bad memories lingering from her first Olympics.
Although Sadowski-Synnott went on to claim bronze in the big air in 2018 - briefly becoming this country's youngest Olympic medallist - it was a bittersweet Games after she had faltered in her stronger discipline.
She finished 13th in the slopestyle in Pyeongchang, certainly creditable for a teenager, but her disappointment was indicative of an athlete with serious designs on the top step of the podium.
Sadowski-Synnott has stood there regularly in the four years since, most recently at the X Games in Aspen, where she claimed gold in both the slopestyle and big air.
Now in today's slopestyle final, the question will be whether the Kiwi can replicate the historic combination of 1080s that reaped gold last month.
She might not need to based on a qualifying performance that produced a best score of 86.75, one of only two snowboarders to exceed 80 and well clear of second-placed Kokomo Murase (81.45).
But Sadowski-Synnott warned that she was far from alone in holding back her top tricks, knowing plenty more would be required to record an unprecedented result.
"I felt such a crazy different feeling dropping in this time compared to [2018]," she told Sky Sport. "I'm just stoked to be able to put my runs down in quallies, which I wasn't able to do last time around.
"I think it's going to be a pretty good finals and everyone's going to bring their best tricks, so it should be interesting."
There was certainly no sign of Sadowski-Synnott's very best during qualification.
In Aspen she became the first female snowboarder to land a back-to-back frontside double 1080 and backside double 1080 in competition. But that was neither necessary nor necessarily possible today, with temperatures of minus-20 making for difficult conditions at Genting Snow Park.
Zoi Sadowski-Synnott in action during the slopestyle qualification today. Photo / Getty
A warmer forecast for the final should provide Sadowski-Synnott with an opportunity to deliver an untouchable performance tomorrow afternoon, when each athlete will get three runs to impress the judges before the best single score determines the Olympic champion.
Sadowski-Synnott will have the advantage as the last athlete underway of knowing exactly what is needed to win gold, an entirely different scenario from qualifying.
The second athlete to take to the mountain - wearing an all-black tracksuit with No 1 on her bib in a sign of what was to come - Sadowski-Synnott played it safe in her first run to position herself securely inside the top 12.
She landed a backside 720 on her last jump to finish the first round in third place with a score of 73.58, before sending out a warning to her rivals with her second run.
Despite a small stumble on the first rail, the Kiwi soon wowed the judges with a backside 900 on her last jump, recording a score that no competitor could touch.
"I really just wanted to put down a run I was stoked on, and kind of do it with style and flow," Sadowski-Synnott said. "In that last run it felt like I got there.
"Going into [today] I've just got to take it step by step and keep my head in it."
Sadowski-Synnott will be the only Kiwi in the final after 19-year-old Cool Wakushima was forced to withdraw following a first-run fall that exacerbated a tailbone injury she had suffered in practice.
