Nico Porteous has given his Winter Olympic preparation the perfect boost, winning the freeski halfpipe at the latest World Cup in the United States.
Porteous was the standout on a successful day for the Kiwi contingent at both the Ski and Snowboard World Cups - with all three New Zealand athletes making the podium.
Sitting in ninth heading into his final run at the latest freestyle halfpipe World Cup, Nico Porteous had to produce something special just to get close to the podium in California.
What he put down was enough to seal World Cup glory.
"I just wanted to put everything out there and leave it all on the line, and risk it for everything," Porteous tells Newshub.
"I'm just absolutely stoked with how it all went."
It's the perfect confidence builder ahead of next month's Winter Olympics.
Porteous beat reigning Olympic champion David Wise on his way to the top of the podium, but the 20-year-old isn't getting ahead of himself as he looks to go better than his bronze in 2018.
"The Olympics is a different competition, it's a completely different time.
"It's four weeks away now, and things can change between now and then. I'm just gonna keep my head down and keep working hard."
Zoi Sadowski-Synott almost made it double Kiwi gold on Mammoth Mountain.
The 20-year-old led the snowboard slopestyle heading into her final run but failed to land her last trick, forced to settle for second.
"I'm really stoked that I got there and went for it," she tells Newshub.
"But I've still got a bit of work to do, but still super stoked to get up on the podium."
Tiarn Collins then capped off a remarkable morning on the mountain, winning bronze in the men's slopestyle.
But the day belonged to Porteous, who was just pleased to be back on his skis after missing the last two World Cups after testing positive for COVID-19.
"That gave me a lot of drive, which is actually a good thing," he adds.
"It lit that fire in me, and really made me wanna ski the best I could."
And Nico Porteous is thirsty for even more success at next month's Winter Olympics.
