Gold medallist Zoi Sadowski-Synnott of Team New Zealand celebrates. Photo / Getty
Gold medallist Zoi Sadowski-Synnott of Team New Zealand celebrates. Photo / Getty
After sending 141 athletes to 16 Olympics since 1952, New Zealand have for the first time struck gold in the cold.
Zoi Sadowski-Synnott has become the first Kiwi athlete to be crowned a Winter Games champion, putting down a spectacular third run in today's slopestyle final to seize gold inthe most dramatic of circumstances.
Standing at the top of the Genting Snow Park course in the silver-medal position, ready to drop in for the 36th and concluding run in the 12-woman final, Sadowski-Synnott knew a near-perfect performance was required to make history.
And that was exactly what the 20-year-old delivered in the clutch, raising her arms high in the air after landing the second of the back-to-back 1080s she needed for gold.
At the bottom of the course Sadowski-Synnott was mobbed by American Julie Marino and Australian Tess Coady, the three medallists celebrating with one another while the exact colour they would wear was still being determined.
Marino's head must have been spinning as if she were still on her board, having earlier leaped ahead of Sadowski-Synnott and into the gold-medal spot with her second run.
The Kiwi was unable to respond with her second attempt, ratcheting up the pressure on her third. But once the judges' scores flashed on the scoreboard following that flawless run, Sadowski-Synnott's place in the record books was secure.
Her score of 92.88 blew away Marino (87.68) and the rest of the competition, confirming her status as the dominant force in women's snowboarding.
Julia Marino, Zoi Sadowski Synnott and Tess Coady celebrate after the women's slopestyle finals. Photo / AP
That potential was hinted at four years ago in PyeongChang, when she briefly became New Zealand's youngest medallist by winning big air bronze before being eclipsed hours later by fellow 16-year-old Nico Porteous.
Sadowski-Synnott's bronze was this country's second winter medal, ending a 26-year drought after Annelise Coberger had opened the Kiwi account with silver in the slalom at the Albertville Games.
And everything that transpired in the four years following PyeongChang suggested Sadowski-Synnott had the ability and temperament to claim New Zealand's first gold in Beijing.
The Wanaka local won consecutive world championships in the slopestyle and this season finished on the podium in every competition she entered, warming up for the Olympics by claiming gold in the slopestyle and big air at last month's X Games in Aspen.
That form continued during Saturday's qualifying, blitzing the field to book top spot for the final, a crucial advantage that allowed Sadowski-Synnott to absorb her rivals' best shots and take the last swing.
At first, it looked like the Kiwi could record an early knockout victory. By landing back-to-back 1080s on her first run, Sadowski-Synnott immediately laid down a gauntlet to the other 11 athletes in the final.
It wasn't flawless - there were some improvements to be made on the rail section at the top of the course - but her score of 84.51 did for a time look good enough for gold.
Zoi Sadowski Synnott won gold for New Zealand. Photo / Photosport
That was until Marino stunned the bigger names with a second run that produced a score of 87.68, outshining compatriot and two-time defending champion Jamie Anderson while bumping Sadowski-Synnott down a place on the leaderboard.
The Kiwi's initial attempt to jump back into the gold-medal position was quickly curtailed, with more issues on the rails early in her second run throwing off her rhythm and soon leading to a minor fall.
But once the rest of the field had completed their third attempts, Sadowski-Synnott was left with one last chance to soar into history.
It was an opportunity she grasped with a disposition cool enough to match the minus-20 temperatures.
The rails were tidy, her grabs seemed to be held for that extra moment and the air she managed on her jumps was unmatched by any of her competitors.
It all added up to New Zealand's 54th Olympic gold medal - but before today each had come at the Summer Games.
Now, 70 years after Kiwis made their winter debut, Sadowski-Synnott has finally applied a golden glow to the snow.
Unfortunately for the New Zealand team in Beijing, Tiarn Collins was unable to continue a stellar Waitangi Day, being eliminated in qualifying in the men's snowboard slopestyle.
The 22-year-old impressed with his first attempt and was sitting 11th at the halfway mark, but a fall on his second saw him slide to 18th.
