New Zealand free skiier Nico Porteous has won gold in the SuperPipe event at X Games in Aspen.
Nico Porteous at the medal ceremony for Men's Ski SuperPipe during X Games Aspen 2021. Photo: (Photo by Eric Lars Bakke / ESPN Images)
It's the first time a New Zealander has won the event.
Porteous made history by becoming the first freeskier to ever land both his right double 1620 and the combination of a right double 1620 into a left double 1620 in a halfpipe competition.
"It has been a lifelong dream for me, so it is pretty surreal right now and pretty out of this world"
Porteous jumped into the gold medal position on his third of four runs, which consisted of a switch right 900, switch left double 1080, the historic right double 1620 into the left double 1620 and finished his run off with a left double flat 900.
"That run has been in the works for the past year and half, I dreamt that run and have worked really hard at it and gave it my best shot to make it become a realty this NZ winter with the help of Cardrona Alpine Resort and High Performance Sport New Zealand. To be able to land it and win the gold medal is pretty unbelievable."
When asked about how Porteous was able to perform such a technical, he said he, "listened to the right tunes and thought about all the time I have put in [preparing for this run]. I was hyper focussed and knew what I had to do and didn't let anything get in the way."
American's Aaron Blunck and Birk Irving took silver and bronze.
Porteous' coach Tommy Pyatt said "Obviously with a first place result we are both so happy, and it is great to tick that box [X Games gold medal]."
"There were two main factors that resulted in tonight's success, the fact that Nico had almost landed the complete winning run numerous times in training over the past two weeks and that without the crowd [due to Covid-19] Nico felt there was less pressure on him, which allowed him to ski at his best."
