Kiwi snow sports star Zoi Sadowski-Synnott may have taken out the top prize at the Halberg Awards, but her father has stolen the show once again.
Sadowski-Synnott was honoured with the Supreme Award and Sportswoman of the Year, after becoming the first Kiwi to win Winter Olympics gold at Beijing 2022.
She was unable to attend the ceremony to receive the awards, due to commitments overseas, but father Sean was at Spark Arena to accept on her behalf.
What transpired was another iconic reaction from the proud dad, who went viral last year, after a priceless live cross with Newshub, even dropping in a couple of swear words.
"On behalf of Zoi, I would just like to say what the f**k," he joked, after receiving the award, with those in attendance applauding their appreciation.
"She did say to us 3-4 weeks ago, 'what the f**k, if I'm not going to win it this year, I'm never going to win it', but obviously not taking anything away from anybody else in the sports community.
"I like to make light of it, because it's incredibly stressful being a parent of a high-performance athlete, who doesn't want to turn up for award speeches and avoids them at all costs, even if they're pre-recorded, written for them, whatever else.
"I'd just like to say that there are so many people here today that can actually contribute to the Halberg Foundation - and I know you're all sitting in the first half here - that could get their chequebooks out and do that.
"If it's not directly, by making a donation, it's by supporting athletes across the motu, encouraging people to participate and making sure we recognise how important sport achievement is to everyone, how they feel, how they respond to dire situations like we are at the moment.
"We might not be in, but people across the country are, so I'd like to thank everyone for their recognition of Zoi and I'm going to get off the stage, before I ramble on too much longer.
"Thank you very much on behalf of Zoi, she will be incredibly proud."
Despite delivering another iconic moment on television, Synnott began his speech with a touching tribute to all those struggling with the effects of Cyclone Gabrielle.
"Like everyone else tonight, I would like to recognise what the rest of the country is going through at the moment with the challenges after the cyclone," he said.
"And a big shout out to all of those first responders and everyone that is looking after whanau across the country.
"Congratulations to the Government for pulling together a response, after some unexpected events in Auckland over the last few weeks."
