Source: Radio New Zealand
Snowboarder Zoi Sadowski-Synnott of New Zealand. JAMIE SQUIRE / AFP
Wānaka snowboarder Zoi Sadowski-Synnott is about to compete in her third Olympics at the age of just 24.
Sadowski-Synnott is a member of the 17-strong New Zealand team set to compete at the Winter Olympics in Italy, which starts on Friday.
She competed in her first Big Air World Cup in 2016 at the age of 15 and made her mark in 2017 with a World Championship silver medal in slopestyle.
A year later, she competed at the Pyeongchang Olympics, claiming a bronze medal in the big air.
In Beijing 2022, she made history as the first Kiwi to ever win a Winter Olympic gold medal when she won the snowboard slopestyle title. She followed that up just days later with a silver medal in the Big Air.
“It is such a privilege to be coming into these ones having won gold in 2022,” Sadowski-Synnott told RNZ.
“But the way I look at it is that it has been four years and I’m in a sport that the progression over a year changes so much.”
New Zealand snowboarder Zoi Sadowski-Synnott at the 2026 Aspen X-Games. JAMIE SQUIRE / AFP
Following her 2022 Olympic Games success, she was named Halberg Supreme winner and went on to impress around the world before an ankle injury kept her off the slopes in 2024.
“The last four years have been a rollercoaster with the highs and lows, [the injury] re-lit the fire in my heart to keep working hard.
“I’m hoping I can carry the momentum of last year so that when we get to the Olympics, I can show off and try my best.”
Since the injury, Sadowski-Synnott worked her way back to the top, winning the 2025 slopestyle world title (her third) and last month winning silver at the Aspen X-Games.
“I’m not going to put too much pressure on it, but I’m really proud and grateful for the level I’m at and just really excited to show all the work and progress that I have made over the past four years. I just want to do my best and if that gets me… it gets me and so yeah just hope for the best.”
With three Olympic Games under her belt, she has been able to share some of her wisdom with her compatriots. The average age of her teammates is just 20.
“I’ve told my younger team-mates who are going to their first Olympics to just have fun and really enjoy the experience because it is really special. Just focus on what matters most, which is putting down the best performance you can because you’ve worked really hard to get here.”
Sadowski-Synnott will get her Olympic campaign underway on Monday 9 February, with qualifying in the women’s snowboard Big Air.
Zoi Sadowski Synnott at Cardrona. Iain McGregor / PHOTOSPORT
Snowboarding and free ski disciplines
BIG AIR
Involves a single jump of a ramp with competitors producing acrobatic moves which are judged on difficulty, execution, amplitude and landing. A qualification competition is used to find the finalists, who then have three jumps with the two highest scoring jumps combined to determine the rankings.
SLOPESTYLE
Athletes move through an obstacle course as they make their way down the slope. It includes rails, boxes and jumps with judging on progression, amplitude, variety, execution and difficulty. There are three runs in the finals with the highest scores determining the rankings.
HALFPIPE
Athletes ride the walls back and forth as they make their way down the course launching into the air to perform tricks. they are judged on progression, amplitude, variety, execution and difficulty.
There are two runs in qualification and three in the final with the single best run determining the rankings.
Terminology:
Rotation: The number of degrees a rider turns in the air (e.g. 1080, 1440, 1800).
Frontside/Backside: The direction of the spin.
Cork: A spin that flips off the vertical axis. A “triple cork” means the rider flips upside down three times while spinning.
Grab: Holding a specific part of the snowboard while in the air (e.g., Bloody Dracula, Chicken Salad, Indy, Mute, Stalefish).
Switch: Riding in the opposite direction of one’s natural stance.
Stomp: Landing a jump cleanly without sliding out or putting hands down.
Jib/Rail: Metal rails or boxes in the top section of a slopestyle course designed for sliding.
Pretzel: Spinning in one direction onto a rail and landing by spinning in the opposite direction off the rail.
New Zealand Olympians (L to R) Alice Robinson, Zoi Sadowski-Synnott, Luca Harrington, Fin Melville Ives, Cam Melville Ives, Ben Barclay and Ruby Star Andrews pictured during the New Zealand Team first selection announcement for 2026 Winter Olympic Games. James Allan / PHOTOSPORT
Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand
