Olympic medalists back home
Teenage Olympic bronze medallists Zoi Sadowski-Synnott and Nico Porteous received a warm and emotional welcome from a home crowd when they landed in Queenstown yesterday.
The Wanaka-based 16-year-olds said they were overwhelmed with support.
‘‘It feels pretty good I didn’t realise I would be as big as this,’’ Sadowski-Synnott said.
The duo also received a ‘‘huge amount’’ of support from Queenstown and Wanaka people during the Olympics in PyeongChang, skier Porteous said.
Queenstown resident Jenny Tapper, who had teary eyes when greeting athletes at the airport, said she was very proud of them.
‘‘They are just amazing and they were so fantastic,’’ she said.
Sadowski-Synnott’s first snowboarding coach, Hamish Martin, was amongst the crowd.
He felt ecstatic watching the ‘‘tough as a nail’’ athlete compete at the Olympics, he said.
‘‘I am over the moon. She deserved it a million times.’’
Queenstown Lakes District deputy mayor Calum MacLeod said it was ‘‘majestical’’ to welcome the medal-winning Olympians home. ‘‘I could get emotional but I’m saving the tears for tomorrow,’’ he said.
Porteous said he was looking forward to hanging out with friends in the sun in Wanaka.
‘‘It’s pretty nice, it is so warm. It’s not very often we get to come here for summer,’’ Porteous said.
However, Sadowski-Synnott would only have a few days to soak up the sun before she took off to the United States to compete on Friday.
Her mother Robin, who also travelled to South Korea, said it was great to be home.
‘‘We are definitely looking forward to catching up with people at home and I’m so happy Zoi has time to see her friends before she heads off again.’’
It had been a frantic time for the duo since competing at the Winter Olympics last week.
‘‘She [Sadowski-Synnott] has not even had a moment for it to sink in,’’ Robin said.
Sadowski-Synnott won her bronze in the women’s snowboard big air on February 23, while Porteous won his bronze in the men’s freeski half pipe the same day.