Ski & Snow 2022

ZOI SADOWSKI-SYNNOTT
&
NICO PORTEOUS
“They say it's not if you win or lose
but how you play the game.
It's only sport
And not important -
Observe the Olympic flame.
But every Aussie knows the score -
We all share that gut feeling.
As the medal count begins to mount...
Let us beat New Zealand!”
In 1991, in the lead up to the 1992 Summer
Olympics, Australian sports TV program, “Live
and Sweaty” released the song “I Don’t Care,
as Long as we Beat New Zealand.” It was a
parody, written by Andrew Denton, describing
the sporting rivalry between Australia and New
Zealand, and played homage to the fact that NZ
were outperforming Australia in almost every
sporting event...
However, despite our reputation as being a
“winning nation”, New Zealand had failed to clinch
a medal at any Winter Olympics. A year later, in
1992, Kiwi Annelise Coberger became the first
person from the Southern Hemisphere to win a
medal at the Winter Olympics, taking out Silver in
the slalom at Albertville in France.
Despite many talented athletes in the following
years, New Zealand was unable to recreate
Annalise’s Olympic success. The Wells brothers,
who dominated the skiing scene in the 2010’s,
were unable to attain medals at the Olympics
despite podium finishes and wins at the XGames.
Jossi came close in the 2014 Winter Olympics,
placing 4th in the halfpipe but Byron was forced
to withdraw due to injury which plagued both
athletes in the following Olympics in 2018.
So, it was an additional 26 years before New
Zealand broke the drought, when then 16-yearolds,
Zoi Sadowski-Synnott and Nico Porteous
won Bronze in South Korea in 2018. The win
made Zoi NZ’s youngest ever Olympic medalist
(at 16 years 353 days) before Nico won later the
same day at 16 years 91 days old. With both
competitors achieving well outside expectations
and at such young ages, NZ hopes were high
for the 2021/2022 Winter Olympics. Previously,
Zoi and Nico outperformed all other competitors
at the preceding X Games, a good litmus test for
what to except at the Winter Olympics, and we
were not disappointed.
The historic moment of winning NZ first Gold
medal at the Winter Olympics was achieved by
20 year old Zoi Sadowski-Synnott and a few days
later Nico Porteous won another.
For a country known for its exceptional Southern
Alps, a people known for their adventurous spirit
and incredible achievements in the mountains
by pioneers such as Sir Edmund Hillary, it’s
surprising that it took so long for New Zealand to
make its mark at the Winter Olympics. However,
whatever the reason for the drought, Zoi and Nico
have certainly made their mark and their names
are now firmly in NZ’s history books.
For more of an insight into what it takes to make
an Olympiad, we caught up with Tommy Pyatt,
Nico’s long-time coach, for a bit of insight into
what it has taken for Kiwis to strike gold.
How long have you been coaching Nico?
I started with Nico and his brother Miguel when
he was 6 years old and their first experience out
of ski racing and in the park. So about 14 years.
I was working at Cardrona as a Freestyle coach
at the High Performance Centre and they picked
my face off the website for not looking too scary
I guess.
J U N E 2 022// 9