Wanaka snowboarder Zoi Sadowski-Synnott has added yet another medal to her expansive collection, winning gold today at the prestigious, invite only X Games women's snowboard slopestyle in Aspen.
Taking a convincing lead right from the start, the 20-year-old maintained her lead through all four runs to claim the top spot against the world's best with a run that has made history.
"It means so much to me," she said after claiming gold. "Everyone was absolutely ripping, that was the sickest contest I have ever been a part of. To put that run down, I have been working towards it for a while, so I am just so stoked."
In her second run, after lacing together a super technical rail section that included a blunt 450 out of the second rail, she landed her frontside double 1080 into her backside double 1080, becoming the first woman to ever land this combination in competition.
Sadowski-Synnott explained: "I have been working towards that for the last year and it was my goal to put it down here, so I am super happy."
This was the third X Games gold medal of Sadowski-Synnott's career and her third major event podium finish of the 2022 season.
She was joined on the podium by two-time Winter Olympic slopestyle gold medalist Jamie Anderson (USA) in second and Laurie Blouin (Canada) in third.
This was the final event for Sadowski-Synnott before she heads to China for the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics where she will be representing New Zealand in both snowboard slopestyle and big air.
She won the bronze medal in the women's big air at the PyeongChang 2018 Games, becoming the second Kiwi to win a Winter Olympic medal after Annelise Coberger claimed silver in the women's slalom at the Albertville 1992.
