Wanaka snowboarder Zoi Sadowski-Synnott has taken a big jump towards creating more New Zealand Olympic history in Beijing.
It was never really in doubt for Sadowski-Synnott in the same event that propelled her to snowboarding stardom at the 2018 PyeongChang Games, where she became New Zealand's youngest Winter Olympics medallist with bronze.
And thanks to a clinical performance at the Big Air Shougang stadium, she will have the benefit of going last in tomorrow's final.
With the best combined scores from two out of the three runs counting towards finals qualification, Sadowski-Synnott calmed any nerves with a strong first attempt, nailing a silky smooth Backside 1080 to earn the number one spot after the first round.
It was then just a matter of putting down another solid run to secure a spot among the top 12 finalists, and Sadowski-Synnott opted to play it safe on her second go with a more toned down Frontside 720 to ensure she landed at least two clean runs.
Her first two runs would've been good enough to qualify, but Sadowski-Synnott wasn't satisfied and put on a show in her final run with a huge Double Cork 1080 to claim a score of 91.00, the highest scoring run of the day.
"I was stoked to land it," Sadowski-Synnott said of her final run. "I had it in my slopestyle run. I wasn't really sure how to play the two-run qualifier but really stoked to land.
"Going into tomorrow [I'll] come up with a whole other game plan because it's a whole different competition. And try to do the best tricks that I can and hope for the best."
She heads into the final as a firm favourite to claim her – and New Zealand's – second gold medal at the Games, but it won't come easy in a strong final field where riders often save their best tricks for the main event.
Sadowski-Synnott, who looked to be holding something back for the final, finished with a combined score of 176.50, ahead of Japanese duo Kokomo Murase and Reira Iwabuchi.
Defending gold medallist Anna Gasser of Austria was the sixth-placed qualifier, while 2018 silver medallist Jamie Anderson of the US missed out.
New Zealand's Cool Wakushima was forced to pull out of the event with an injury she sustained in slopestyle qualifying.
In the women's freeski slopestyle, Kiwi Margaux Hackett missed out on finals qualification with a 16th placed finish, just short of the top 12.
