Winter Olympics golden girl Zoi Sadowski-Synnott has sent a warning to her snowboard rivals, producing a stupendous final jump to lead qualifying for the big air competiton at Beijing.
Little more than a week after capturing New Zealand's first Winter Olympics gold medal in slopestyle, Sadowski-Synnott was just as impressive through the early rounds of an event where she took bronze as a teenager four years ago at Pyeongchang.
Jumping fourth in a field of 30, she wasted little time setting a first-round lead with an opening effort of 85.50, before taking a more conservative approach with her next attempt, settling into fourth behind the Japanese trio of Reira Iwabuchi, Kokomo Murase and Miyabi Onitsuka.
Already assured of finishing among the top 12 for a spot in the final, Sadowski-Synnott wasn't satisfied with easing through, stomping the best jump of the day for 91.00 and the top ranking into Tuesday's medal rounds.
Murase, who also trailled the Kiwi through slopestyle qualifying, again progressed in second place, passing Iwabuchi with an 86.00 final effort.
Sadowski-Synnott's medal prospects were greatly assisted by the plight of American Jamie Anderson - the GOAT of women's snowboarding - who stumbled through her first two rounds, produced a stunning 89.75 on her last attempt - second best of the day - but ultimately slipped out of the top 12 to miss the final.
American Julie Marino, who almost stole the slopestyle gold off Sadowski-Synnott last week, was a late scratching from the big air, as was young Kiwi Cool Wakushima with a back injury.
"I did a back 10 on my first and then a front seven to warm up for the frontside double 1080," reflected Sadowski-Synnott. "I was stoked to land it... I had it in my slopestyle run.
"I wasn't sure how to play the two-run qualifier, but I was really stoked to land."
As she was for slopestyle, she now holds the final run of the big air competition, so she will know exactly what she needs on her last attempt to secure another gold. That advantage paid off, when she snatched victory with a last-ditch effort last week.
Sadowski-Synnott (NZ) 176.50 1, Murase (Japan) 171.00 2, Iwabuchi (Japan) 158.50 3... Langland (USA) 127.50 12
