Kiwi snowboarding superstar Zoi Sadowski-Synnott (Wānaka, 21) has won her second X Games medal in as many days, claiming the Pacifico Women’s Snowboard Big Air silver medal.
X Games Big Air is known for its progression, with new tricks landed for the first time almost every year, and today was no different. The level of competition was like nothing ever seen before in a women’s snowboard Big Air competition.
An ecstatic Sadowski-Synott said; “I am super happy to put down the two tricks I’ve been working on for a year and come away with the silver. I am so proud to finish behind Reira, who stomped the first triple cork in women’s competition.”
From the first athlete to drop in, it was evident that this was going to showcase of the best of the best in women’s snowboarding, with technical and gnarly tricks being consistently thrown down.
Sadowski-Synnott put down a left switch backside 1260 in her second run (the only women to have landed this trick in competition) and a right backside 1260 in her fourth run to take the silver medal with a combined score of 86, just one point of gold medallist Reira Iwabuchi.
Sadowski-Synnott landed the switch backside 1260 for the first time in the history of women’s snowboarding competition just two weeks ago at the FIS Kreischberg Big Air World Cup.
Iwabuchi of Japan landed a historic cab triple under flip, the first triple ever landed in women’s snowboard competition. Laurie Blouin of Canada backed it up immediately, stomping her very own triple and claiming the highest single trick score of the day, a 48 out of 50.
With Iwabuchi in first, Sadowski-Synnott in second and Blouin in third, it was a star studded podium.
This concludes Sadowski-Synnott’s 2023 X Games, walking away with a gold and a silver it has been an incredibly successful weekend for her. These two X Games medals marked her 20th and 21st consecutive podium results, an incredible feat from an equally incredible athlete.
15 months ago
Zoi Sadowski-Synnott