Wānaka's Zoi Sadowski-Synnott has won silver in the women's Snowboard Slopestyle event in a final run that left viewers on the edges of their seats.
The win secures New Zealand's third medal of the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic Games in Italy.
The New Zealand Olympic Committee said it also makes Sadowski-Synnott the world's most decorated Olympic snowboarder, as well as the country's most successful Winter Olympian.
After topping the qualifying round, Sadowski-Synnott was up last in the line-up of 12 women this morning (NZ time). Her run one score of 73.01 at Livigno Snow Park immediately took her to third place, despite coming off early on one of the rails.
She dropped to fourth during round two, where she remained after her 77.61-scoring run when, despite some impressive jumps, she again came off early on the second rail.
However, the 24-year-old managed to turn the competition around in her last attempt, with a clean run bringing her up to second place with a score of 87.48 - just 0.35 points behind Japan's Mari Fukada, who took home gold.
"Dropping into my last run, I took a moment to take it all in. Just the experience of being here and how lucky it is to drop in last and how privileged it is to be in that position. I felt really grateful and wanted to put everything I could into that last run, put it down when it mattered," Sadowski-Synnott said.
It is her fifth Olympic medal. She had claimed New Zealand's first medal of the Games, taking silver in the snowboard Big Air event last week.
When asked about becoming the world's most decorated snowboarder, she said it felt "pretty insane".
"I didn't know the stats going into this Olympics, I just really wanted to represent New Zealand the best I can, and represent the sport I love and share it with the world. To have five Olympic medals, it's pretty sick.
"Growing up in New Zealand I started snowboarding when I was eight and I wanted to get as good as I could. I was addicted that feeling of slowly getting better and learning new tricks.
"I just loved the feeling because it makes me feel alive and just to have the opportunity to go to the Olympics coming from the small country of New Zealand who aren't known to be huge winter athletes, there were zero expectations. I'm just proud to represent New Zealand."
"I have a really supportive family and a great crew around me who are really supportive and help me achieve my goals. Just being a Kiwi, we're always a bit of an underdog and any chance we get to show who we are on the world stage we'll try and do our best."
It was a longer than expected wait for competitors to compete in the finals, after heavy snow saw the event postponed on Tuesday (local time).
Menzies 7th in slopestyle
Dane Menzies missed out on a medal in the men's Snowboard Slopestyle final.
The 20-year-old from Wānaka was also 12th in the line-up after placing first in the qualifier, and got off to a strong start last night (NZ time).
Run one earned him a solid score of 76.10, his best in the event, but run two saw him drop to fifth place with a score of 21.03.
Menzies was unable to up his score with a clean run on his last attempt, scoring 34.61, leading to a seventh place finish. He only needed another three points to crack the top three.
China's Su Yiming won the event with a top score of 82.41.
Menzies admitted he was "super-bummed" by the result, but said he was already looking forward to the next Olympics.
"The first run was pretty good, but a few things didn't go right. I was kind of stoked, but fifth place isn't really where you want to be. I had the best rail line, but it just wasn't clean enough. It hurts for sure," he said.
"I'm super happy to represent New Zealand as well, and my family, it makes me proud."
New Zealand has now secured three medals in this year's Games.
Luca Harrington, also of Wānaka, brought home bronze at the men's Freestyle Skiing Slopestyle event last week.
