Winter Games: Slopestylers aim for NZ golden double

Two New Zealanders are in line to make history at the closing event of the Winter Games at Coronet Peak tomorrow.

If Southern Lakes snowboarders Shelly Gotlieb and Stef Zeestraten can repeat their slopestyle wins at tomorrow's big air competition, they could clinch a golden double for New Zealand at the inaugural Winter Games.

Gotlieb, of Queenstown, and Zeestraten, of Wanaka, won their first events at The Remarkables last Sunday and will cross the Wakatipu Basin to line up against three other Winter Games gold-medal winners.

The Kiwi snowboarding pair could also be joined by Jossi Wells, if the Wanaka freeskier can overcome a dodgy knee and win the Winter Games halfpipe at Cardrona Alpine Resort today.

Also vying for a golden double are Winter Games women's halfpipe winner Jiayu Liu, of China, and free ski slopestyle winners Anna Segal (Australia) and Tom Wallisch (United States).

Wallisch will have one of the easier routes to a possible golden double, courtesy of his "special invite" status for the free ski big air.

He will join a roster of six freeskiers who will advance directly to the finals of the competition, while Segal will be up against a field of 12 in the women's qualifiers.

Winter Games free ski halfpipe favourite and Winter X Games champion Xavier Bertoni is also an outside chance to go for two gold medals, if he can edge Wells in today's halfpipe at Cardrona.

The pair both have special invite status for the big air, as do Wells' brother, Byron, Australian Russ Henshaw and Swedes Henrik Harlaut, Jon Olsson and Jacob Wester.

The snowboarders undoubtedly have a harder road to try to win their big air competition, which also doubles as an FIS Continental Cup event.

While the final format for the snowboarding big air competition is still to be finalised, there will be no special invite status for riders to skip qualifications.

FIS competition rules dictate all competitors must take part in qualifications, before progressing to a knockout finals format.

China is still to announce a team list but has confirmed FIS world No 1 halfpipe rider Liu will contest the big air.

Gottlieb and Zeestraten both confirmed they would be entering the big air, while Winter Games administrators will not release an official start list until after a team captains' meeting tonight.

A preliminary list for the FIS snowboarding Continental Cup has 50 men and eight women scheduled to contest the final event of the Winter Games.