Snowboarder Zoi Sadowski-Synott will compete for Olympic gold in her biggest challenge yet. Photo / Getty
Snowboarder Zoi Sadowski-Synott will compete for Olympic gold in her biggest challenge yet. Photo / Getty
Kiwi snowboarder Zoi Sadowski-Synott wants to "show the world what she's got" in Friday's Winter Olympics Big Air final.
Sadowski-Synott was four years old when she first visited the snow on a family Christmas holiday, describing the memory as the "coolest thing ever".
At the age of 9, Sadowski-Synott was encouraged to take up the sport of snowboarding by her father, after she joined her sister for a lesson at SnowPark NZ.
The Wanaka teen's competitive spirit soon kicked in and she began to enjoy the excitement and challenge of performing "big tricks" in front of a crowd.
"In 2012 I realised that snowboarding was the sport for me. I loved it so much I wanted to skip school. I knew I wanted to go the Olympics and X Games," she said.
Just five years later, Sadowski-Synott earned her first World Championship medal and became the youngest female snowboarder to win gold in the 2017 World Cup Slopestyle event.
And now, hoping to achieve her ultimate goal, Sadowski-Synott will compete in a bid to claim New Zealand's second ever Winter Olympics medal.
However, Sadowski-Synott's first Winter Games hasn't been easy, as she struck trouble last week on the rail section of the tricky Slopestyle course.
The 2017 Snow Sports Athlete of the Year was left to mull with her mistakes as she finished 13th in Slopestyle, admitting she had hoped for a better performance despite windy conditions.
"I was pretty devastated that I couldn't put down a clean run and see where that got me," she said.
The 16-year-old landed a switch backside 900 claiming her way into the finals. Photo / Getty
"The conditions were a bit tough, quite windy. It was quite consistent but it played with your mind a bit when you were dropping it."
But the gutsy snowboarder lived up to her "big tricks" name after she delivered a powerful comeback yesterday in the Big Air qualifying event.
Sadowski-Synott was awarded a score of 92 out of 100 after she successfully landed a switch backside 900 - a trick she had never landed in competition prior.
"I knew I had to go real hard in Big Air, to show the world what I've got," she said.
"After I landed my second jump I was really stoked ... I'd never landed it before in a contest. I saw the score and it put me first. I was fully ecstatic. You do something and get rewarded for it and it feels real good."
"Hopefully I can try some stuff and hopefully if everything goes well on the day, we'll see where that puts me. I want to show the world what I've got," she said.
During the finals event, Sadowski-Synott will be judged on a number of different criteria, including difficulty, execution, landing, and amplitude.
The Women's Snowboard Big Air final will be broadcasted live to Sky channel Olympic Pop-Up 3 at 1:25pm on Friday.
The Herald will also run a live blog during the event.
