Zoi Sadowski-Synnott

Zoi Sadowski-Synnott (born 6 March 2001) is a New Zealand snowboarder, specialising in slopestyle and big air competitions. She won the bronze medal in the women's big air at the 2018 Winter Olympics, and won the women's slopestyle title at the 2019 World Championships.[2]

Zoi Sadowski-Synnott
Personal information
NationalityNew Zealand
Born (2001-03-06) 6 March 2001
Sydney, Australia[1]
ResidenceWanaka, New Zealand
Height1.65 m (5 ft 5 in)
Weight57 kg (126 lb)
Sport
CountryNew Zealand
SportSnowboarding
Event(s)Slopestyle
Big air
Medal record
Women's snowboarding
Representing  New Zealand
Winter Olympics
2018 PyeongchangBig Air
World Championships
2019 UtahSlopestyle
2017 Sierra NevadaSlopestyle
Winter X Games
2019 AspenSlopestyle
2019 Aspen Big Air
US Open
2019 VailSlopestyle

Personal life

Sadowski-Synnott was born in Sydney, Australia, to a New Zealand father, Sean Synnott, and an American mother, Robin Sadowski. Her family moved to Wanaka, New Zealand when she was six years old.[1][3] She has two older brothers, Dylan and Harrison,[3] and one older sister, Reilly.[4] She resides in Wanaka, and attends Mount Aspiring College.[5]

Career

Sadowski-Synnott won the silver medal in the slopestyle at the 2017 FIS Snowboard World Championships.[6]

She competed for New Zealand at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea.[7] She won the bronze medal in the women's big air, becoming only the second New Zealander to win a Winter Olympic medal, behind Annelise Coberger who won silver in the women's slalom at the 1992 Winter Olympics.[8] Her big air qualifying saw her become the first woman to successfully land a switch backside 900 (i.e. riding in unnatural stance and performing 2.5 rotations in the backside direction) in competition.[9][10] She also competed in the women's slopestyle, finishing in 13th place.[11]

At age 16 years 353 days, Sadowski-Synnott briefly became New Zealand's youngest ever Olympic medallist, breaking the previous record of 17 years 100 days set by Danyon Loader at the 1992 Summer Olympics. The record was broken later the same day by Nico Porteous at age 16 years 91 days.[12] She was subsequently selected as New Zealand's flag bearer for the 2018 Winter Olympics closing ceremony, becoming the nation's youngest-ever flag bearer.[13]

In January 2019, Sadowski-Synnott claimed the gold medal in the slopestyle event, and the silver in the big air, at the Winter X Games in Aspen, Colorado.[14] A month later, she won the gold medal in the slopestyle at the 2019 FIS Snowboard World Championships.[2]

In March 2019, she won the slopestyle event at the US Open in Vail, Colorado, completing the triple crown of the Open title, the X Games gold, and the World Championship title. [15]

International competitions
Year Competition Venue Position Event Notes
2017 FIS Snowboard World Championships Sierra Nevada, Spain 2nd Slopestyle
2017 FIS Snowboard World Championships Sierra Nevada, Spain 4th Big air
2018 Winter Olympics Pyeongchang, South Korea 13th Slopestyle
2018 Winter Olympics Pyeongchang, South Korea 3rd Big air
2019 Winter X Games Aspen, Colorado 1st Slopestyle
2019 Winter X Games Aspen, Colorado 2nd Big Air
2019 FIS Snowboard World Championships Park City, Utah 1st Slopestyle
2019 US Open Vail, Colorado 1st Slopestyle

References
  1. Caldwell, Olivia (22 February 2018). "Zoi Sadowski-Synnott's double wildcat catapults her into NZ Olympic folklore". Stuff.
  2. "Kiwi snowboarder Zoi Sadowski-Synnott wins world slopestyle title". Stuff. 11 February 2019.
  3. Rattue, Chris (1 April 2017). "Snowboarding: Olympic star could be rising from snowhere". The New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 9 February 2018.
  4. Nugent, Sean; Morris, Chris (23 February 2018). "Resort 'stoked' by teens' efforts". Otago Daily Times. Retrieved 24 February 2018.
  5. "Olympic medal a win for Mt Aspiring College". Newstalk ZB. 22 February 2018.
  6. "FIS Freestyle Ski and Snowboarding World Championships 2017 Women's Snowboard Slopestyle Final Results" (PDF). Retrieved 15 March 2017.
  7. "Nico Porteous joins brother in team for Winter Olympics, history beckon". Stuff.co.nz. 24 October 2017. Retrieved 25 October 2017.
  8. "Bronze medal! Zoi Sadowski-Synnott wins New Zealand's first Winter Olympics medal since 1992 in Big Air final". The New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 22 February 2018.
  9. https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/winter-olympics-2018/2018/02/19/womens-big-air-contest-means-even-bigger-tricks-sports-progression-continues/350304002/
  10. http://www.fis-ski.com/snowboard/freestyle-snowboard/news-multimedia/news/article=anna-gasser-first-ever-olympic-big-air-champion.html
  11. "2018 Winter Olympics: It all goes awry for Kiwi snowboarder Zoi Sadowski-Synnott". Stuff.
  12. Norquay, Kevin (22 February 2018). "2018 Winter Olympics: Meet the high-flying 16-year-olds who made New Zealand proud". Stuff. Retrieved 24 February 2018.
  13. "Zoi Sadowski-Synnott to carry New Zealand flag at closing ceremony". Stuff. 25 February 2018.
  14. "Gold for Kiwi Zoi Sadowski Synnott after late call up to elite US event". Stuff. 27 January 2019.
  15. "Zoi Sadowski-Synnott claims snowboarding triple crown with US Open win". Stuff. 2 March 2019.
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