Sean Synnott was given the job of accepting daughter Zoi Sadowski-Synnott's two Halberg Awards. Safe to say it was rather colourful. Photo / Sky Sport
Sean Synnott was given the job of accepting daughter Zoi Sadowski-Synnott's two Halberg Awards. Safe to say it was rather colourful. Photo / Sky Sport
New Zealand snow-boarding star Zoi Sadowski-Synnott has been awarded New Zealand’s supreme sporting honour for 2022 after becoming the 60th Supreme Halberg Award winner on Wednesday.
Sadowski-Synnott was awarded both the Supreme Award and Sportswoman of the Year, after becoming the first Kiwi to win Winter Olympics gold at Beijing 2022.
But she wasn’t the only family member to take centre stage after her father Sean Synnot delivered a rather colourful acceptance speech on behalf of his daughter.
With the 21-year-old gold-medallist unable to attend due to overseas commitments, it was left up to her dad to steal the show.
Getting up on stage to accept Zoi’s Sportswoman of the Year award, he began with a colourful admission: “Well, once again, Zoe f***ing didn’t record a speech in case she won,” he quipped as the audience laughed.
Sean Synnott was given the job of accepting daughter Zoi Sadowski-Synnott's two Halberg Awards. Safe to say it was rather colourful. Photo / Sky Sport
However, he did read a speech Zoi had pre-written, in which she said it was “incredibly humbling” to win the award. Sean and Zoi paid tribute to the fellow finalists, describing it a “huge honour” to be recognised alongside the likes of Dame Lisa Carrington, Lydia Ko, Ruahei Demant and Ellesse Andrews, highlighting the strides fellow athletes have made in women’s sport.
But it was when his daughter won the Supreme Halberg Award that her father took the spotlight.
“On behalf of Zoe, I would just like to say what the f***,” he joked, after receiving the award, with those in attendance applauding their appreciation.
“She did say to us about three or four weeks ago, what the f***, if I’m not going to win it this year, I’m never gonna win it,” he quipped in reference to her astonishing gold and silver medal haul in Bejing.
“So, but obviously not taking away from anybody else in the sports community, I like to make light of it because it’s incredibly stressful being a period of a high-performance athlete who doesn’t want to turn up for awards speeches and avoids them at all costs, even if they’re prerecorded, written for them, whatever else,” he joked.
He went on to thank those behind the Halberg Foundation’s Award nights, who with the help of the awards fundraiser, help thousands of disabled athletes participate in sport.
“I’d just like to say that there are so many people here today that can actually contribute to the Halberg Foundation - and I know you’re all sitting in the first half here - that could get their chequebooks out and do that.
“If it’s not directly, by making a donation, it’s by supporting athletes across the motu, encouraging people to participate and making sure we recognise how important sport achievement is to everyone, how they feel, how they respond to dire situations like we are [in] at the moment.
“We might not be in, but people across the country are, so I’d like to thank everyone for their recognition of Zoi and I’m going to get off the stage, before I ramble on too much longer.
“Thank you very much on behalf of Zoi, she will be incredibly proud.”
Zoi Sadowski-Synnott won gold and silver at the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympic games. Photo / Getty Images
While Sean’s speech provided another iconic moment of New Zealand television, he took the time to play tribute to those impacted by the deadly cyclone that devastated the North Island.
“Like everyone else tonight, I would like to recognise what the rest of the country is going through at the moment with the challenges after the cyclone,” he said.
“And a big shout-out to all of those first responders and everyone that is looking after whanau across the country.
“Congratulations to the Government for pulling together a response, after some unexpected events in Auckland over the last few weeks.”
Kiwis reacted to Sean’s colourful speech, with some saying it was nice to see some colour at an awards night.
“Zoi’s dad was a much-needed breath of fresh air after a painful few hours,” one person wrote.
Another said: “Everything is so scripted nowadays. It’s good to see a true blue Kiwi father sharing a real-life anecdote without any censorship.”
However, some people disagreed, including sports commentator Keith Quinn.
“Murray Halberg was a very dignified & great Kiwi. The glittering Awards Show in his memory last night did not deserve the low-rent, foul-mouthed speech given by the father of the night’s Top winner, Zoe Sadowski-Synnott. (The F-word 4 times) In future can he be told to stay away,” he tweeted.
It’s not the first time he has let an F-bomb fly during an interview.
Last year, after Zoi won Olympic gold, Sean was asked for his reaction following his daughter’s incredible achievement - and the interview went down as an iconic moment of 2022.
“The only thing I looked for was her younger sister’s reaction,” he said.
“She was [going] f***ing crazy she was going off the roof,” he added.
“I’m pretty f***ing excited to be honest and I’m really happy to see all the investment from all of these people has turned out.”
But it was when Synnott was asked how hard his daughter had worked and the sacrifices she had made to top the snowboarding podium that he delivered his most memorable answer.
“Well the toilet blocked up this morning, ah yesterday morning,” he said, sharing a chuckle with the reporter who attempted to clarify what that meant.
At the time he was praised for his off-the-cuff reaction.
“If I ever win an Olympic medal my dad better be at least this excited for me,” one person said.
“I think we have just got our quote of the year,” declared another Twitter user. “A true Southlander.”
