Kiwi overcomes dramas to claim US Open title
New Zealand’s Zoi SadowskiSynnott has claimed a triple crown in snowboarding with a slopestyle victory at the US Open in Vail, Colorado.
The US Open title was the third leg of the triple crown, after Sadowski-Synnott won the world championship and X Games gold in Aspen in January.
‘‘It means so much, it was one of the first contests I watched when I started snowboarding and I’m just so happy to be here,’’ Sadowski-Synnott said after the win yesterday (NZ time). ‘‘It’s been an amazing season and I wanted to finish it on a high and I’m just so happy to do it here.’’
Sadowski-Synnott was the top qualifier and was the last of the six competitors to drop in to the course.
Knowing she would need to bring her A-game to secure a podium finish, the Kiwi focused on raising the technicality of her rail tricks. The plan paid off , with an 8.7 from a possible 10 on her first trick – a switch boardslide 270 out – on the top rail. Sticking to the same jump combo as her qualifier run, Sadowski-Synnott scored a nine out of 10 for her switch backside 900 off the first jump and her overall score of
82.55 took her straight to the top of the leaderboard.
With the wind picking up and snowfall reducing the visibility, competitors struggled to land their second runs.
Sadowski-Synnott had her own dramas to contend with when she took a gouge out of her snowboard by clipping one of the rail features and then took a fall on her first jump. Forced to make an equipment change, she faced the unsettling prospective of taking her final run on a new board.
However, in the end, the third run would be a victory lap with second-placed rider Julia Marino taking a fall on her third run and unable to improve her score.