Teenagers get their kicks again on slopes
Fearless New Zealand duo land bronze medals Freestyle snow events help youngsters to shine
When it comes to skiing a half-pipe, or launching a double-cork 1080 on a snowboard, the kids are better than all right. In both these events, in the space of two hours, New Zealand snaffled two bronze medals yesterday to showcase the true fearlessness of youth.
Since its debut in the Winter Olympics at Oslo in 1952, the country had been represented on the podium just once in 66 years. That was until the arid Kiwi record was shredded in a single morning – thanks to a pair of 16-year-olds.
First, Nico Porteous, a blur of nervous energy, staged an outrageous sequence of half-pipe stunts to finish third, despite admitting that he had vomited three times beforehand due to the mounting tension. Then, Zoi Sadowski-synnott, over on the “big air” ramp, pulled out her gaudiest party trick: a switch backside 900, to reach the podium alongside Austria’s world and Olympic champion, Anna Gasser. Quite the feat for two debutants born in 2001.
Already, these Olympics have gifted us Chloe Kim, the 17-year-old US snowboarder so sassy that she spent the downtime between runs tweeting about her breakfast. Over on the slopestyle course, there was her compatriot Red Gerard, whose laid-back nature freed him up to become the first Winter Games gold medallist born this century. To no one’s great surprise, he has also qualified for today’s “big air” final, despite taking a 15-hour flight to Los Angeles to run the gamut of late-night talk shows.
Why are these Games being overrun by athletes still ineligible to vote? One explanation is the increased preponderance in the Olympic programme of freestyle snow disciplines, where audacity is perhaps the most crucial virtue. Kim, for example, has tricks in her armoury that her elder peers, for reasons of self-preservation, would not even dream of attempting. But if you think she is fresh-faced, wait until you see Japan’s Kokomo Murase who, according to insiders, is the finest female snowboarder in the world at 13. By any reckoning, 13 is too young to be thrust into the crucible of Olympic pressure. While Kim had the talent to represent the US at Sochi 2014, age restrictions prevented her, a ruling that she has since come to regard as a blessing. “I was a little bummed out then, but now that I look back at it, I’m glad that I wasn’t old enough,” she said. “It’s too much stress for a 13-yearold.”
One worried a little yesterday for the mental well-being of Porteous, who needed a sports psychologist with him as the intensity of the moment hit home. “I was being sick with anxiety. I honestly don’t know why it went so well in the end – I haven’t got a clue,” he said. “I’ve been a mixed bag of emotions lately, I haven’t been getting much sleep.”
At Porteous’s age, the lack of shut-eye is unlikely to be a hindrance. After all, Gerard has traversed 7,000 miles of ocean – twice – since seizing his gold, while showing no drop-off in performance.
There is, however, a streak of vulnerability, with Porteous skiing through his final run, accepting there was little chance of improving his score. As for a celebration, he insisted he would restrict himself to a “quiet one with the family”.
On the slopes, however, Pyeongchang has been a place for teenage kicks galore.