New Zealand Wins 5 Olympic Snowboard Medals From Tiny Team

A 24-year-old from a small New Zealand town just made Olympic history, and her success tells a bigger story about how smart investment beats population size.

Zoi Sadowski-Synnott became snowboarding's first ever five-time Olympic medalist this week, taking silver in slopestyle at the Milan Cortina Games. The win sparked a traditional haka celebration at the finish line, a ritual once reserved for rugby matches but now showing up at halfpipes and ski jumps around the world.

Her achievement caps off a remarkable run for New Zealand at these Olympics. Seven of the country's 11 winter athletes made finals, and they've collected three snowpark medals, matching the entire United States haul despite having a fraction of the population and resources.

"We're always a bit of the underdogs," Sadowski-Synnott said after her win. "Any chance we get to show who we are on the world stage, we'll try to do our best."

The transformation didn't happen overnight. A decade ago, New Zealand was known mainly as the place where American stars like Shaun White trained during their summer. The country's Cardrona resort had perfect snow, but the talent pipeline flowed one direction.

Then New Zealand started investing in its own athletes. Snow Sports New Zealand now supports young skiers and snowboarders from early childhood, building long-term relationships instead of chasing quick wins.

Take 19-year-old twins Cam and Finley Melville Ives. Cam competes in snowboarding, Finley in freeskiing, and both train under the same national program. Their parents started taking them to the slopes at age 3, and at 12, the national team took over their development.

"They were the first kids on the chairlift every year," said Luke Hetzel, general manager of high performance at Snow Sports New Zealand. "They're singularly focused on snowboarding and skiing. That lends itself to doing very well."

Unlike larger countries that separate snowboarding and skiing into competing programs, New Zealand bundles all winter sports resources together. With a small team of 17 Olympic athletes (16 of them in snowpark events), they can't afford waste or politics.

"They don't have the same kind of disposable mindset of, 'Oh, we can just fill it with another good rider,'" said Kiwi snowboarder Lyon Farrell, who competed in both big air and slopestyle. "They really support their guys from an early age."

The strategy is paying off beyond medals. In 2022, Nico Porteous won gold in ski halfpipe. Luca Harrington took bronze in ski slopestyle at these Games. Athletes who once might have been seen as once-in-a-generation talents are now part of a steady pipeline.

The Ripple Effect

New Zealand's success is changing what's possible for small nations at the Winter Olympics. By focusing on quality over quantity and starting athlete development young, they've proven that population size doesn't determine podium results.

Their approach offers a blueprint for other underdog countries: identify talent early, pool resources across similar sports, and commit to long-term development over quick wins. When athletes know their country will invest in them for years, not just Olympic cycles, they can focus entirely on improvement.

The medals heading back to Wānaka and other small New Zealand towns represent more than athletic achievement. They're proof that smart systems and genuine support can turn any nation into a winter sports powerhouse.

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