Zoi Sadowski-Synnott (24) kept fans on the edge of their seats at the X Games in Aspen today keeping her podium-worthy performance for the third and final run in the Women’s Snowboard Slopestyle event.
Nine of the world’s top snowboarders lined up with the Wanaka-based athlete saving her final run for best, scoring a 93.00 and landing the silver. The final standings were:
1 96.33 - Mia Brookes, GBR
2 93.00 - Zoi Sadowski-Synnott, NZL
3 89.66 - Cocomo Murase, JPN
Zoi is the Beijing 2022 Olympic gold medallist in Slopestyle and silver medallist in Big Air and the 2018 PyeongChang bronze medallist in Big Air. She is a three-time snowboard Slopestyle World Champion (2025, 2021, 2019) and in 2025, she became the first kiwi female to bring home a FIS Crystal Globe when she won the overall Snowboard Slopestyle World Cup standings.
Sadowski-Synnott said she was stoked to get the competition under her belt pre-Olympics and happy to land the switch backside 1260 in her third run. She has been competing against some of the athletes for a decade. “It’s really cool. The girls all have their own style and creativity and they pushed me really hard.”
After tomorrow’s X Games Big Air competition, it’s on to Milano Cortina. “All the hard work has been done at this point, so I’ll take time to rest, recover and prepare,” she said.
Zoi’s Snow Sports NZ coach Sean Thompson said it was great to be back in a competition environment. “We’ve put in a lot of hard work over the last few years; it’s about enjoying it, doing the best you can and keeping up the stoke.”
Snow Sports NZ Park & Pipe Head Coach Tom Willmott said: “So stoked to see Zoi back in action. That steely focus before dropping in and big smile at the bottom of her run, she is the queen of clutch and left it until the third run to put down the run she was aiming for to keep things exciting. It’s a great step towards the big event next month in Italy.”
Later in the evening in Aspen, Luca Harrington and Ben Barclay, both announced to the NZ Team competing in Milano Cortina, brought their A-game to the Freeski Big Air competition.
Luca (21) is the reigning Freeski Big Air World Champion, Freeski Big Air Crystal Globe holder and the X Games Slopestyle Gold medallist. Ben (23) is a multiple FIS Freeski Slopestyle World Cup podium finisher, including sharing the podium with Luca at the 2025 Slopestyle World Cup in Stoneham, Canada. Ben represented NZ at the Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games in both Freeski Big Air and Slopestyle.
Luca brought his trademark swagger landing some huge jumps but couldn’t shake Mac Forehand from the top of the podium. He took silver with a score of 94.66. Final standings were:
1 96.00 - Forehand Mac USA
2 94.66 - Harrington Luca NZL
3 94.00 - Deschamps Dylan CAN
It’s the 75th X Games overall and the 25th X Games in Aspen. 114 athletes will compete over three days across ski, snowboard and snowmobile in the invitation only event. Representing New Zealand are:
Snowboard - Zoi Sadowski Synnott, Dane Menzies, Rocco Jamieson, Cam Melville Ives
Freeski - Fin Melville Ives, Luke Harrold, Luca Harrington, Ben Barclay (alternate) and Mischa Thomas (alternate).
5 hours ago