Medal double a great day for Kiwi sport
Teens triple New Zealand’s Winter Olympics medal tally
Six Winter Olympic Games and nothing; now this, one of New Zealand’s gold letter days in sport. Two 16-year-old athletes tripled New Zealand’s Winter Olympic medal tally, ensuring Annelise Coberger’s slalom silver from 1992 is no longer the country’s solitary beacon of success in the Games snow.
You can argue it can’t compare with the gold-bronze double of Peter Snell and John Davies in the 1500m at Tokyo in 1964, or the gold-silver triathlon double of Hamish Carter and Bevan Docherty in the Athens heat of 2004.
But these medals are special for what they mean for Winter Sports in New Zealand.
The bronze medals for Zoi Sadowski-Synnott in the Big Air final, and Nico Porteous in the men’s halfpipe final within a couple of hours of each other are outstanding achievements, all the more so for the gobsmacking surprise of it all.
New Zealand has become accustomed to leaving Winter Olympics empty-handed.
Both were thought to be going to PyeongChang to learn and develop, particularly Porteous. But they were having none of it.
Sadowski-Synnott had been disappointed by her 13th placing in the slopestyle and was determined to make amends; Porteous wanted to stand tall after older brother Miguel narrowly missed the halfpipe final. Both did so, with bells on. First Wanaka’s Sadowski-Synnott, the Year 13 Mt Aspiring College student. School lessons might take some getting used to.
She pushed herself into the frame with a terrific 92.0 with her second of three runs, incorporating a switch backside 900. Her two-round score of 157.5 was comfortably good enough for third.
The best two scores combined to decide the placings. Double Olympic slopestyle gold medallist, American Jamie Anderson, was denied a third Olympic title by the last jump of the competition, a stunning leap by Austrian Anna Gasser.
Sadowski-Synnott was fourth at last year’s world championships in Big Air and second in the slopestyle, so she was far from a no-hoper. It’s just that New Zealanders don’t tend to figure in Winter Olympics medal calculations.
She moved from Australia to New Zealand when she was six — for sure, New Zealand’s gain. It was, she admitted, “a pretty crazy feeling” for the final outcome.
“That second jump is the best I’ve done. I’m just so stoked.
“I was sitting down at the bottom after my third run and they [officials] were like ‘you have to wait because you’re in third’.
“I just chilled. The last girl went, who wasn’t on the podium. She didn’t land, and it was a pretty crazy feeling. It’s been a long journey.”
Porteous was jubilant at the conclusion of his event, generous with his hugs to his fellow medallists and anyone else within reach.
Unlike the women’s event, the men’s halfpipe was decided by the best single score.
Porteous, for whom Christchurch is home but now spends most winter months in Wanaka, led briefly before being overtaken by brilliant American defending gold medallist David Wise, and Alex Ferreira, who was the most consistent freeskier on show.
“I don’t know why people hide their emotions,” the fresh-faced Porteous said last night.
“I’m actually quite surprised I didn’t pass out. That was insane to see that score [94.8 for his second run] come up on the board.
“I couldn’t take that smile off my face the whole way up the chairlift.”
Porteous admitted he had thrown up three times with nerves as he was about to drop in at the top of the course.
He went through the motions with his final run, not trying any of his tricks, and relying on his second run score being good enough.
“I didn’t have anything left in the bag. I had surprised myself with how well I skied. I literally just didn’t know what to do.
“I really hope I didn’t come across as cocky by doing that.”
Porteous said he had no idea his big second run score was coming.
“I was happy with the way I skied. But for the judges to reflect that, it’s insane.
“I definitely try to do my own tricks that no one else is doing and really push the sport. I couldn’t have done better.”
When he was 14, Porteous became the youngest freeskier to land a triple cork 1440 — let’s not get technical but it is stunning feat of athleticism and nerve.
So he certainly had this success in him.
Beau-James Wells, sixth in Sochi, was fourth in a fine display, which helped make up for older brother Byron, who was injured in training and, for a shattering second straight Olympics, was forced out.