Kiwi Zoi Sadowski-Synnott's red hot form has continued with a snowboard slopestyle silver medal at the prestigious Aspen X Games.
After starting her season with a silver medal at the World Cup event in Switzerland, Sadowski-Synnott produced a near-faultless final run to claim the fourth X Games medal of her career.
On her final descent - when she was already guaranteed a bronze medal - the Kiwi produced a jaw-dropping run that included three difficult tricks - switch back 900 mute grab into a back 900 melon grab then into a cab under flip 540 - to propel her into the silver medal position, but not enough to snatch gold from American Jamie Anderson, who won a stunning 18th X Games gold medal.
"Zoi's last run was flawless and I'm so inspired by her," Anderson told the X Games straight after her final run.
The 2019 slopestyle champion produced three incredibly difficult tricks that left her rivals speechless and saw her leapfrog Canadian Laurie Blouin into second place.
The 19-year-old used last year's disappointing fifth place finish in Aspen as motivation to return to the podium, after winning in 2019.
"It was amazing and I'm still buzzing," Sadowski-Synnott tells Newshub. "I missed out last year and that really fueled the fire in me to work hard and get back on it this year.
"Putting down that last run felt amazing and to end up on the podium again was unreal."
Entering her final run, the Wanaka-based snowboarder knew she had nothing to lose, so she left everything out on the course.
"I knew I had to go all out and I went as all out as I could go, given how much I was throwing down in practice," she says. "I was so stoked to complete the back-to-back nines and then keep it together in the last jump.
"I'm stoked with second, but wish I could've been up on the top like I was two years ago, but I'll take it."
Sadowski-Synnott is back in action on Sunday in the Big Air, hoping to continue her impressive form and claim top spot on the podium.
