Zoi Sadowski-Synnott from Wanaka put in another great performance on an elite podium in the world of snowboarding, winning the X Games slopestyle title in the United States.
The Kiwi Olympic champion successfully defended her title to claim her fifth gold medal at the X Games in Aspen, Colorado, on Saturday, putting in a stellar final run in tricky conditions to beat Australia’s Tess Coady and Japan’s Kokomo Murase .
“Honestly, I can’t quite believe it,” Sadowski-Synnott said after the event. “It could have gone either way today, everyone is totally ripping, and I’m so excited for Tess and Kokomo.
“I’m proud of what we’ve all been able to do in these circumstances.”
Sitting in second place overall, Sadowski-Synnott began her fourth and final run.
A perfectly executed 50-50 rail transfer to start, a flawless jumping section and a smooth switch-backside 900 to finish sealed the gold for the 21-year-old.
The win continues a very successful start to 2023 for Sadowski-Synnott, who took her first Laax Open World Cup slopestyle crown in Switzerland last week.
Next on the schedule is the defense of her X Games Big Air crown on Sunday afternoon (NZ time).