By EDDIE PELLS
ZHANGJIAKOU, China – She shrunk the “Great Wall”. She navigated and dominated, the most difficult road she had ever driven. But if Zoi Sadowski Synnott thinks the hard part is over once she crosses the Olympic finish line, she has something else coming up.
More importantly, New Zealand’s first Winter Olympics champion had silver and bronze medals slamming right into her.
After watching the race that took them down one Sunday, American Julia Marino and Australian Tess Coady ran outside and wrestled the new sledding Kiwi champion into a doghouse in the snow. They are celebrating a day that women’s skiing has been waiting four years to see.
“Pretty sick,” said Sadowski Synnott. “It’s been a pretty special competition, especially after the last Olympics where we had some pretty tough conditions.”
Nothing comes easy with the Secret Garden Olympic Slopestyle course, an aesthetic masterpiece with a replica of the Great Wall adorned throughout the super grand layout.
But four years ago in Pyeongchang, a woman snowboarding had a black eye. Forced to compete in windy conditions that sent Alpine skiers home on a different part of the mountain, American Jamie Anderson won a contest where 51 of 60 runs ended with one hand. race in her rear, or slowly slide off the track, unable to navigate the shifting winds.
The percentages weren’t much better on Sunday either – in the three-round final, 25 of the 36 runs were canceled or entered the water, in large part due to the hard ice and corner runs. kick players.
“We have never really seen a course like this before,” says Marino.
The difference, however, is how the top handles the challenge.
In which Anderson, through no fault of her own, won the 2018 contest with the offensive tricks of more than a decade earlier, Sadowski Synnott won Sunday with a tough combination best in sport – a run built for 2022.
Following Marino as she headed into the final lap of the competition, she nailed the 1080s two buttons in a row. That’s the combination she used two weekends ago to win a gold medal at the X Winter Olympics. Before that, no woman had ever won it in a competition.
Sadowski Synnott talks about his repeat performance on a bright sunny day when the wind chill dropped to minus-13 degrees Fahrenheit (minus-25 degrees Celsius).
Anderson finished ninth and failed to get through a lap in three runs unscathed. It’s been a tough road to the Olympics for the champion, including a break-in to her car, several out of character competitions, and overall that she just doesn’t feel it. .
But she, like everyone else on the mountain, knows what this contest means.
Anderson, 31, said: “I’m really happy for Zoi and Tess and just want to see where and how far skiing has come to the girls. “Even if I’ve given that little bit of inspiration to some young girls, I feel so proud and grateful.”
Everyone was – even the one who finished in second place.
Before that, 24-year-old Marino’s best days in skiing were when she won the X Winter Olympics in 2017 – and when she won the World Cup’s biggest title on scaffolding. construction in Fenway Park in 2016.
On Sunday, she linked the 900 back with a pair of double cork on her second run and rose to first place. She was there for the next 45 minutes.
Marino was at the bottom waiting for Sadowski Synnott to go one last time, and she saw what everyone else had done: a well-placed risky run in the middle of the board and solid ground. Sadowski Synnott raised both hands in the air after the last one. No need to wait for the scoreboard, finally scoring 92.88 points and a “1” next to her name.
“I was so happy, I just went out there and charged her,” Marino said. “She stomped her feet to the very last line. I think she has the strongest legs ever, because it looks like she ‘broken’ the ground. I just passed happy for all three of us”.
Coady added: “It doesn’t look like anyone has done anything in the past four years. So it’s great to show people how far we’ve come. ”
The performance was a gift to Sadowski Synnott’s sport, but also a gift to New Zealand.
It’s a rugged land where football and Blacks rule, but there’s also a winter world that beckons to those willing to put in the effort. It has long been a training ground for riders in the Northern Hemisphere, who need to work the months of June, July and August.
So yes, it has snow, and mountain resorts. And now, another gold medal.
“Completely disbelieving,” said Sadowski Synnott. “Winning New Zealand’s first winter gold probably means more to me.”
https://www.sbsun.com/2022/02/05/snowboarding-shines-new-zealand-gets-1st-winter-games-win/ American Julia Marino claims silver while snowboarding – San Bernardino Sun