EYES ON
Zoi SadowskiSynnott
In February, all eyes were on 16-year-old Zoi SadowskiSynnott as she became New Zealand’s first Winter Olympic medallist in 26 years, claiming a bronze medal in women’s big air. We had a chat to the young Cardrona team rider about her career so far, & her hopes for the future.
Age: 16 Started snowboarding age: 8 or 9 Regular/goofy: Regular Disciplines: Slopestyle & Big Air Sponsors: Red Bull, Von Zipper, Nitro, Union, Rad Gloves, Cardrona Alpine Resort Favourite Trick: Front 3 or back 1
24 H E A RT O F G O L D
Tell us about your early childhood memories of snowboarding in Wanaka: I went for a lesson up Snow Park NZ with my sister during night riding & that was probably my earliest memory. What’s the scariest thing that’s ever happened to you on the snow? I caught toes on the take-off of a front 7 on the third jump at Cardrona (so a really big jump), & pretty much superman front flipped over & landed on my shoulder which was really scary! How’d you get into competitive snowboarding? My first competition was in Whistler, Canada. I won a phone at the comp because I was the only girl & it was a spot prize, so that was really cool.
