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Full Noise by SN
Zoi Sadowski-Synnott takes silver in Big Air final
Sport Nation • February 10th, 2026 8:49 am
Zoi Sadowski-Synnott competing in the Big Air final at the 2026 Winter Olympics | Photo: Dan Himbrechts/Photosport
Coming into the women's snowboard big air finals at the 2026 Winter Olympics as the top qualifier, Zoi Sadowski-Synnott has battled her way to a silver medal at Milano Cortina, picking up her third medal in the event and fourth overall.
Speaking with media afterwards, Sadowski-Synnott paid tribute to her fellow competitors.
"That was incredible, such a high level of snowboarding and to see the progression over the last four years and see what it takes to get on the podium now, I couldn't be more inspired and just really grateful to be a part of it."
Zoi Sadowski-Synnott with her Women’s Snowboard Big Air silver medal at Milano Cortina | Photo: Dan Himbrechts/Photosport
Korea's Yu Seungeun stunned the commentators with a clean backside 1440 in the first run and the judges agreed, launching her to the top of the leaderboard with 87.75 before top-three favourites Mia Brookes, Kokomo Murase, and Sadowski-Synnott dropped in.
Murase's triple cork 1440 jumped her into first with 89.75 with Sadowski-Synnott unable to completely register a trick on run 1, scoring 27.75 points.
Yu's frontside 1440 reclaimed the top spot during the second run with 83.25 points to score 171 overall and create a buffer against her rivals, Murase the closest on 161.75 after scoring 72 on the second run.
The pride of Wānaka, Sadowski-Synnott, looked to bounce back and put the first run behind her, landing a backside 1440 and receive the second highest individual score of the final after two rounds with 88.75 points.
With the third run switching to reverse order based on standings, the New Zealand flagbearer needed a strong finish to leapfrog the competition and potentially secure a medal.
Sadowski-Synnott answered by unleashing the switch backside 1260, scoring 83.50 to be on top with 172.25 points overall, leaving a nervous wait with seven finalists still to come.
A frontside triple cork 1440 by Murase bumped the Kiwi out of the gold medal position to silver, complimenting her 89.75 from run 1 with 89.25 to score 179 points overall. Yu took home the bronze.
A contingent of the NZ team broke out into haka to congratulate Sadowski-Synnott on picking up New Zealand's first medal of the 2026 Winter Olympics, a gesture that took her completely by surprise.
"I didn't know that was happening. I just went and saw my family and then turned around and the whole team was performing a haka for me. Yeah, it was really special, it really meant a lot to me," Sadowski-Synnott said.
Competing in her final Olympic campaign, Austria's Anna Gasser looked to defend her gold medal status in big air from Beijing and Pyeongchang, but with jumps of 25, 45 and 76.25, the 34-year-old will now turn her attention to the slopestyle event.
Zoi Sadowski-Synnott on leading New Zealand at the Winter Olympics | Scotty & Izzy
