The 20-year-old slopestyle snowboarder was gunning to join Annelise Coberger, also from Christchurch, who won silver in the alpine skiing slalom at the 1992 Games in France.
Garcia Knight led the field after the first run in PyeongChang, surprising pundits and international TV commentators one of whom described Garcia Knight as an "afterthought" in medal calculations.
Canada's Mark McMorris and Norway's Staale Sandbech overtook Garcia Knight on the second run, leaving the Kiwi in third.
Garcia Knight's podium place looked in initial trouble from Canada's Sebastien Toutant third run until he came adrift at the end.
But American 17-year-old Red Gerrard put on a brilliant show to take the gold medal position, emulating countryman Sage Kotsenburg's surprise performance in Sochi.
Garcia Knight followed next, and he crashed early on his final run leaving him in fourth place at best.
Garcia Knight eventually finished fifth.
"On the last run I was really nervous I got a little bit overwhelmed. But to come fifth at my first Olympics, I'm relatively happy," Garcia Knight said after the event.
The other Kiwi athlete competing for a medal today is speed-skater Peter Michael.
Michael is a former inline skating world champion, who decided to add the Olympic Winter Games to his goals after watching fellow-countryman Shane Dobbin compete at the Sochi 2014 Games.
PyeongChang is his first Olympics but that won't hold him back, in the 2016/17 season he gained World Cup podiums in the 1500m, 5km and Team Pursuit.
Wanaka Snowboarder Zoi Sadowski Synnott will compete in the women's snowboarding slopestyle final tomorrow.
Sadowski Synnott, 16, is one of the youngest of New Zealand's 21 athletes who are competing at the Pyeongchang games.
The 16-year-old beat out fellow Olympian Carlos Garcia Knight to win Snow Sport New Zealand's athlete of the year award last year.
2017 was a big year for the snowboarder, winning her first snowboard world cup - becoming just the third Kiwi to win a world cup.
Sadowski Synnott opens her Winter Olympics campaign in the Slopestyle qualification where she will be a strong contender for a medal.
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