OLYMPICS: Snowboard-New Zealand's Sadowski Synnott rides into history

LIVIGNO, ITALY – Sitting in fourth place with one run left and her Olympic podium hopes hanging by a thread, New Zealand snowboarder Zoi Sadowski Synnott took a moment Wednesday to soak in the Alpine scenery and enjoy another chance at glory.

That brief pause paid off. The 24-year-old nailed her final slopestyle run to claim silver, becoming the most decorated Olympic snowboarder of all time.

Sadowski Synnott now has five Olympic medals, dating back to Pyeongchang 2018: one gold, three silvers, and one bronze.

“It feels pretty insane, to be honest,” she said on the slopes in Livigno, with her latest silver medal hanging around her neck.

She had also won silver at the Milano Cortina Games nine days earlier in the big air event.

On her final slopestyle run, Sadowski Synnott expertly navigated the course’s bumps and rails, making her dizzying jumps look effortless.

She admitted she didn’t realize she had just surpassed every other snowboarder in Olympic medal count.

“I didn’t know the stats going into the Olympics,” she said. “I just really wanted to represent New Zealand as best I can and share the sport I love with the world. To have five Olympic medals, it’s pretty sick.”

Sadowski Synnott said she had never imagined such success when she started snowboarding at age eight. Coming from New Zealand, a country not widely known for winter sports, expectations were low.

“Just being a Kiwi, we’re always a bit of the underdog,” she said. “Any chance we get to show who we are on the world stage, we’ll try our best.”

Her passion began simply with “that feeling of slowly getting better and learning new tricks,” she said. “I just love it because it makes me feel alive.”

Asked what’s next, Sadowski Synnott gave a refreshingly down-to-earth answer:

“I’m pretty keen to go surfing,” she said.

-Reporting by Lisa Richwine; Editing by Toby Davis/Reuters