Under the banner of 'Team Unstoppable', Nutri-Grain has assembled a trio of athletes who embody Kiwi values of tenacity and determination, while representing us on the world stage.
Before he could even legally drive, Wanaka local and freestyle skier Nico Porteous made history for his country. At age 14, he became the first Kiwi and youngest person ever to land a triple cork 1440.
At just 16, Porteous again made history, when he became New Zealand's youngest Olympic medallist, bringing home the bronze from PyeongChang 2018.
He went on to another world-first at the Aspen X Games earlier this year, landing back-to-back 1620s in the halfpipe to bring home gold. Porteous tells Newshub landing those moves was the culmination of years of hard work, which all started with a step out into the dark.
"The hardest part for me mentally is trying a trick for the first time, it feels impossible at first. It’s like jumping off a cliff and not knowing where you're going to land.
"It's taking a leap into the darkness and not knowing what’s going to happen."
While you'd expect a podium finish to be the ultimate goal of every athlete, Porteous has recently reframed his approach to training and is no longer solely focused on medal tallies.
"After the last Olympics, I was stuck in that mindset of 'if I do this, I'll end up at that place on the podium," he says.
"But just switching your headspace, training to the point of trying to be the best that you can be, rather than training towards a competition result... not being results focused, but progression driven - that’s what leads to you being the best you possibly can be."
Porteous says focusing on what he can control helps him through the tougher moments, like when he was sidelined for six weeks, after injuring himself skating in February.
"Life throws curveballs at you like that, and you have to deal with it and carry on," he says.
The skating injury stung, particularly because it’s what the skier does to wind down and relax outside his training regime.
"It sucks at the time, but it's not something I look back on and regret in life, because it's just a part of it. If I were to wrap myself in bubble wrap and never do stuff like that, I don't think I could take it."
Porteous says through periodising training and ensuring he makes time to reconnect with friends and family, he never loses the joy of skiing, which he says is crucial to his performance.
"If I'm in that state where I’m having the best time of my life, I feel that's when I perform at my best."
Porteous has taken the last month off to recharge and says he’s reflected a lot on his career while doing so, some of the realisations serving him particularly well, as New Zealand swung back into lockdown.
"I feel like I’ve matured a lot and learned to spend time alone, and not constantly having to be hanging out with people and to be comfortable."
Despite being only 19, Porteous has been skiing for 15 years, starting when he was just four years old, while on family vacation in France. When asked what advice he’d give his younger self now, with over a decade of skiing experience and multiple medals under his belt, Porteous is philosophical.
"I think the biggest thing that I would tell myself would be to not take things too seriously," he says. "There's a fine line between not taking things seriously enough and taking them too seriously.
"Life is a bloody rollercoaster and the older you get, the more you learn that. The highs and lows affected me quite a lot when I was younger.
"I've learned to not get too down on the lows, and accept that it's a part of life and it's not going to be forever - you will have high moments again."
One of those high moments could be just around the corner, with the Beijing Winter Olympics scheduled for February 2022. While his eyes are on the prize, Porteous is taking each day as it comes.
"My goal over the next 5-6 months will be to continue to get better, while making sure that I stay happy and healthy, and continue to love what I do and enjoy it."
This article was created for Nutri-Grain.
