Nico Porteous has won gold in the X-Games Freeski SuperPipe in Aspen, becoming the first New Zealand athlete to claim gold in the discipline.
Porteous made history when he became the first freeskier to land both his right double 1620 and the combination of a right double 1620 into aleft double 1620 in a halfpipe competition.
"It has been a lifelong dream for me, so it is pretty surreal right now and pretty out of this world," the 19-year-old said.
Porteous jumped into the gold medal position on his third of four runs, which consisted of a switch right 900, switch left double 1080, the historic right double 1620 into the left double 1620 and finished his run off with a left double flat 900.
"That run has been in the works for the past year and half, I dreamt that run and have worked really hard at it and gave it my best shot to make it become a realty this New Zealand winter. To be able to land it and win the gold medal is pretty unbelievable."
When asked about how he was able to perform such a technical, never done before run, he explained that he "listened to the right tunes and thought about all the time I have put in [preparing for this run]. I was hyper focused and knew what I had to do and didn't let anything get in the way."
Porteous was joined on the podium by Americans Aaron Blunck and Birk Irving.
Nico Porteous competing in the Men's Ski SuperPipe during X Games Aspen. Photo / Joshua Duplechian/ESPN Images
Porteous' coach Tommy Pyatt was delighted with the accomplishment.
"We are both so happy, and it is great to tick that box (X-Games gold medal).
"There were two main factors that resulted in tonight's success, the fact that Nico had almost landed the complete winning run numerous times in training over the past two weeks and that without the crowd [due to Covid-19] Nico felt there was less pressure on him, which allowed him to ski at his best."
Earlier in the day, fellow Kiwi Zoi Sadowski-Synnott, at just 19 years old, claimed the Snowboard Slopestyle silver medal, the fourth X-Games medal of her career.
Her three-part rail section consisted of a 50/50 gap to back board, front lip to switch and a switch front blunt 270 out on the flat bar. In the jump section, consisting of two traditional jumps and two (backside and frontside) transition features, Sadowski-Synnott went huge, performing a switch back 900 mute grab into a back 900 melon grab then into a cab under flip 540 and a crippler on the transition features.
Jamie Anderson (USA) took the gold medal with her effortless style and solid landings and Laurie Blouin (CAN) rounded out the podium with the bronze medal.
"At X-Games there is definitely the feeling in the air that this is the biggest competition of the season and this is where you want to do your best and after coming just behind Jamie in LAAX I was giving it everything I had to come on top. I am still stoked with second place though," Sadowski-Synnott explained.
Sadowski-Synnott has also been invited to compete in the X-Games Snowboard Big Air event which is taking place at 9.45am Sunday morning (NZT).
"I am feeling good about the big air, the jump is nice, after today there will be some athletes who missed out [on the podium] today who will be going for it tomorrow. It will be a really good show."
