Concussed Kiwi wins world gold
Cancellation hands victory to impressive teenager
I found out sitting at home resting, which was pretty cool. Zoi Sadowski-Synnott
Zoi Sadowski-Synnott has won New Zealand’s first world ski/ snowboard world title while concussed. The brilliant snowboarder won the slopestyle gold on her qualifying performance in Colorado, after the main event was cancelled due to bad conditions. Sadowski-Synnott suffered concussion on her second qualifying run and was not even going to compete in the final. “I pretty much found out (she had won) maybe 20 minutes before the medal ceremony — I found out sitting at home resting, which was pretty cool,” she told Radio Sport. “I wasn’t riding the course — I wasn’t going to compete in the finals today. “There was dicey weather during qualifying and it was even worse today. The weather was too gnarly and dangerous to compete in.” The weather was so bad that the big air competition, in which Sydowski-Synnott won her Olympic medal, had already been cancelled. The 17-year-old said: “I hurt my head, and got a slight concussion — I’m out for a few days. “I was actually very stoked on my qualifying run. I did a wildcat out of the rails like I’ve never done before . . . I only learnt it the other day. “I was hoping to put a better run down in finals, like in X Games, but because of weather and my injury things didn’t work out. “It doesn’t matter the size of the event — you should always be trying new things and progressing.” Sadowski-Synnott won silver in the worlds two years ago, has an Olympic bronze and became the first Kiwi snowboarder to win an X Games gold last month. She said her latest medal was hard to rate against her other achievements. “It’s hard to compare . . . it feels pretty surreal now. I don’t know how to compare it to everything else. It’s definitely one for the books. “After the Olympics and X Games, more people are watching out for me which is kind of scary but also exciting at the same time,” she said. She won’t be able to return home for the Halberg Awards next week.