New Zealand gets their first Winter Olympic gold medal as Zoe Sadowski-Synnott wins gold

Kiwi sensation Zoe Sadowski-Synnott wins gold following an amazing final run during the Women’s Snowboard Slopestyle at the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing. Sadowski-Synnott’s 92.88 score edged USA’s Julia Marino out of first place and in turn claimed victory for New Zealand’s first ever Winter Olympic gold medal.

With the best run that day at Genting Snow Park in Zhangjiakou, 20-year-old Zoe Sadowski-Synnott wins gold while starting off her final with a couple boardslides and a frontside 270. Looking super composed, she landed a switch backside 900 into a double cork 1080. On her last jump Sadowski-Synnot soared over 100 feet on a 900 moonshot to take the gold. Even Julia Marino and bronze medalist Tess Coady of Australia pounced on Zoe after her fantastic run.

“Zoe’s an inspiration to all of us,” said Marino after the event. “Shes the best rider right now, and she’s making us all push our levels, and I couldn’t be happier for her. She’s a great person and a great rider, and I love to share the podium with her.”

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After finishing with the bronze medal in 2018’s inaugural women’s big air snowboard event in Pyeongchang, Zoe Sadowski-Synnott wins gold in Beijing. She also had just recently pulled off two double cork 1080s a couple weeks ago and placed gold at both the Women’s Snowboard Slopestyle and the Women’s Big Air events at X Games Aspen 2022.

“Honestly it just feels unreal. I’m super proud of where my snowboarding has come in the last four years,” said Zoe following the victory. “And I’m super proud to be Kiwi and show the world what Kiwis are made of. I took everything I had in me to try to land it and I told myself just to do anything you can to land it…and I did.”