Zoi Sadowski-Synnott (24, Wānaka ) has written herself into the sporting history books once again, overnight becoming the most decorated Olympic snowboarder in the world by medal count, and tied for the second most decorated New Zealand Olympian of all time.
Sadowski-Synnott, who was this week named New Zealand Sportswoman of the Year at the annual Halberg Awards, kept fans on the edge of their seats until the final run, but true to form, brought her best when she needed to. Sitting just outside the podium positions, she nailed the rails and went big on the jumps driving her score up to 87.48 to claim the silver medal in Snowboard Slopestyle — the fifth Olympic medal of her career.
Sadowski-Synnott is now tied for the second-most decorated New Zealand Olympian alongside equestrian Mark Todd and kayakers Ian Ferguson and Paul MacDonald. Kayaker Dame Lisa Carrington is New Zealand's most successful Olympian, having won a nine Olympic medals (eight gold, one bronze) over four Games.
A number of snowboarders worldwide have won three medals in the Olympics, among them the legendary Shaun White. Sadowski-Synnott now has five medals. Zoi has a gold from Beijing 2022 in Slopestyle along with a silver in Big Air, she brought home a bronze from PyeongChang in 2018 in Big Air, and now has two silver medals from Milano Cortina. Zoi is also a three-time world champion in Snowboard Slopestyle and last year became the first kiwi female to bring home a FIS Crystal Globe when she won the overall World Cup standings. She has won the Sportswoman of the Year honour twice in New Zealand, and was made a Member of the NZ Order of Merit in 2022.
In Milano, Sadowski-Synnott qualified ahead of the pack in Snowboard Slopestyle edging out fellow competitor Murase Kokomo who took top spot on the podium in Snowboard Big Air.In today’s finals, she was sitting in fourth until her final run. As the last rider to drop, she nailed her third and final run, slipping into silver medal position and earning her fifth Olympic medal.
Sadowski-Synnott explained her approach to her final run: “Dropping into my last run, I took a moment to take it all in. Just the experience of being here and how lucky it is to drop in last and how privileged it is to be in that position. I felt really grateful and wanted to put everything I could into that last run, put it down when it mattered.”
As well as New Zealand's most successful Winter Olympian, Sadowski-Synnott is now the world's most decorated Olympic snowboarder by medal count. When asked how she feels about this, Sadowski-Synnott said, “It feels pretty insane to be honest. I didn’t know the stats going into this Olympics, I just really wanted to represent New Zealand the best I can, and represent the sport I love and share it with the world. To have five Olympic medals, it’s pretty sick.”
Asking about the secret to her success, Sadowski-Synnott said, “I attribute my success to the people around me. I’ve been with most of my team for almost a decade, since I was 15 years old and I have a really supportive family and a great crew around me who are really supportive and help me achieve my goals. Just being a Kiwi, we’re always a bit of an underdog and any chance we get to show who we are on the world stage we’ll try and do our best.”
The final results in the Women’s Snowboard Slopestyle medals were:
Gold: Fukada Mari (JPN)
Silver: Zoi Sadowski-Synnott (NZL)
Bronze: Murase Kokomo (JPN)
When snowboarding debuted at the 1998 Winter Olympics, there was one freestyle discipline (halfpipe) and one Alpine discipline (giant slalom) on the program. The Snowboarding disciplines in Milano Cortina are:
The 11 events feature separate competitions for men and women across all five, plus the mixed team snowboard cross.
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Olympics