Less than two months out from the Beijing Winter Olympics, Kiwi snowboarding sensation Zoi Sadowski-Synnott has put her main competitors for the gold medal on notice by winning a prestigious invitational in Colorado.
The 20-year-old took control by laying down a technical yet stylish run to claim the Women's Snowboard Slopestyle title.
Sadowski-Synnott made a statement, winning her first Dew Tour event.
"I didn't even know if I was 100 percent going to do this competition," Sadowski-Synott tells Newshub.
"So just super stoked to be back riding."
In her first major competition nine months after suffering a leg injury, the two-time world champion made it look easy.
"Awesome to see her back in action," coach Sean Thompson tells Newshub. "Pushing through, showing everyone else how it's done."
And she certainly did that, throwing down the biggest trick of the day - a switch backside 900, into a front 720 and a backside nine finish to take the honours with a whopping score of 97.75, seven points ahead of her nearest competitor.
The emphatic win sending a strong message to her Olympic rivals, and there's plenty more where that came from.
"We've got a plan in place," Thompson adds. "She's got a few special tricks she's working on but you need time so hopefully it all comes together."
The focus is now on nailing her execution, so she can upgrade her PyeongChang Bronze to Beijing gold in February.
"[I'm] coming into this Games with a lot more experience than last time round, which is super exciting, but obviously a lot more pressure behind me," Sadowski-Synnott adds.
Pressure or not, it seems Sadowski-Synnott has flipped snowboarding's hierarchy on its head just in time for Beijing.
