Zoi Sadowski-Synnott celebrates after winning silver in the big air final. Photo / Getty
Zoi Sadowski-Synnott celebrates after winning silver in the big air final. Photo / Getty
After New Zealand had waited 70 years for a Winter Olympic gold medal, Zoi Sadowski-Synnott was moments away from doubling that tally - and her own - in the space of nine days.
Unfortunately for the 20-year-old who has rapidly ascended to the top of Kiwi sport, it was speedthat potentially prevented her from completing that remarkable bid in Beijing.
Sadowski-Synnott today added a silver medal to the slopestyle gold she won last week and the bronze with which she announced her arrival four years ago, being pipped for top spot in the snowboard big air final by a phenomenal final jump from Austria's Anna Gasser.
The defending big air champion was trailing Sadowski-Synnott by a quarter of a point after two rounds before unleashing a spectacular 1260 on her last attempt.
That left the Kiwi requiring her very best if she wished to win gold, and with a 1260 of her own added last month to her deep bag of tricks, that's what Sadowski-Synnott attempted to put down to conclude the final.
However, having completed a double-cork 1260 to win X Games gold in Aspen last month, Sadowski-Synnott was unable to match Gasser's triumphant efforts.
"Dropping into that last one, I knew I had to give it everything I had," Sadowski-Synnott told Sky Sport. "I only learnt that a month-and-a-half ago. I wanted to land it but had a little too much speed."
Zoi Sadowski-Synnott celebrates after winning silver in the big air final. Photo / Getty
Coach Sean Thompson soon confirmed that issue and revealed the strategy had always been for Sadowski-Synnott to save the 1260 for last, after guaranteeing herself a medal with the 1080s that had also put her in top spot during yesterday's qualifying.
"That was the plan from the start," Thompson said. "I think she just got a little too excited and maybe went a little too fast on that one. She almost hung on to it but was just a bit deep on the landing."
It speaks to the outsized expectations already placed on Sadowski-Synnott that a double gold - which would have put her alongside New Zealand sporting royalty like Peter Snell and Lisa Carrington - felt so attainable.
And nothing about the first two rounds of today's final changed that feeling, as the Kiwi recorded a competition-best score of 93.25 with her first jump.
But Gasser responded to that formidable challenge by laying down an even greater one of her own, thrilling the competition - including the silver medallist - by becoming the first woman to land a 1260 at an Olympics.
"I'm so happy for her," Sadowski-Synnott said. "Seeing Anna on top of the podium again was really fitting because she's been the main pusher of the women's progression in the last eight years."
Gold medallist Anna Gasser of Team Austria and silver medallist Zoi Sadowski Synnott. Photo / Getty
Sadowski-Synnott has also been rather influential in that progression, and it would surprise no one to see her domination of the sport continue through the next Olympic cycle.
But having already won three medals, when New Zealand as a nation boasted a solitary silver before the Wānaka snowboarder emerged, Sadowski-Synnott was already assured a place in this country's Olympic history.
"I came here to put down my best tricks and almost got there, and I'm stoked with the result," she said. "I can't really process it right now, but I'm sure that once I get home and see my family and friends it will sink in."
