LAID BACK AND BIG-HEARTED
Our teen Olympic heroes
As Zoi Sadowski-Synnott made a name for herself as a snowboarder on the rise, she had options as to which country she could represent.
Born in Australia to an American mother and Kiwi father, she had three choices. But, after living here for most of her life, in the end it was an easy decision.
“There was no question in her mind,” her father Sean Synnott told the Weekend Herald. “She just wanted to be with the New Zealand guys and compete for New Zealand. She’s a very, very proud Kiwi.”
The 16-year-old snowboarder from Wanaka grabbed bronze at the Winter Olympics in Korea in the women’s big air competition, winning New Zealand’s first medal at the Winter Games in 26 years. Two hours later, Christchurch 16-year-old Nico Porteous won bronze in the men’s ski halfpipe, topping off a magical day for the Kiwi athletes.
Sadowski-Synnott’s career in snowboard began on wheels — skateboarding on a ramp in the family’s backyard.
Sean and wife Robin bought the ramp as a present for their son, Dylan. “What was a very small little ramp became a very large ramp,” Synnott said. “It certainly blew the budget.”
They sold the property five years ago, and had to leave the ramp behind — floodlights and all. But the seed had been planted.
“This has been a goal of hers for four or five years — to get to the 2022 Olympics, not these ones.”
Despite working hard to develop her craft, Sadowski-Synnott hadn’t let schoolwork slip. Last year, she achieved merit endorsements despite only being at school for about 30 per cent of the year.
“And obviously dealing with early morning trainings and gym time to strengthen her core and her legs as well . . . we haven’t quite figured out how she does it but we’re pretty proud of her.”
The moment Sadowski-Synnott landed her switch backside 900, Synnott knew his daughter was bringing home the bronze.
“I said to my wife ‘she can’t be knocked out now’ and Robin said ‘don’t jinx it’.”
“There were quite a few tears shed,” Synnott said of the medal ceremony. “It would have been nice to see the New Zealand anthem played. I think if that had happened everyone wearing black would have certainly been flooding the stadium.”
And while she wasn’t able to land the 1080, Synnott said a video analyst had looked at the footage after the competition and said she was extremely close to sticking it. The 16-year-old has plenty of time left in her career to get that final rotation down, and when she does, she’ll likely change a few results.