Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Born | Hamilton, New Zealand | 23 November 2001|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Height | 1.75 m (5 ft 9 in) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Weight | 63 kg (139 lb) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Relative | Miguel Porteous (brother) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Sport | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Country | New Zealand | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Sport | Freestyle skiing | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Event | Halfpipe | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Nico Porteous MNZM (born 23 November 2001) is a New Zealand freestyle skier and an Olympic champion. [1] [2] He is New Zealand's youngest Olympic Games medallist, having won a bronze medal at the 2018 Winter Olympics at the age of 16. [3] He became New Zealand's second Winter Olympic gold medallist, and first male, with his win in men's halfpipe at the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics.
Porteous was introduced to skiing by his parents and learned to ski in France when he was three years old. [4] He has had a professional coach since he was six years old. [4] Porteous has been home-schooled through Te Aho o Te Kura Pounamu, as well as studying at Christ Church Grammar School in Perth, Western Australia. [4] His older brother Miguel Porteous is also a freeskier and Olympian, having competed at the 2018 Winter Olympics and the 2022 Winter Olympics. [4]
When Porteous was 14, he became the youngest person in the world to land the triple cork 1440 (upside down three times, and four full spins). This has since been beaten by another skier. [4]
Porteous was selected to compete at the 2018 Winter Olympics, making him the second-youngest Winter Olympian in the nation's history (behind Alice Robinson). [5] [6] In the men's halfpipe he won the bronze medal, becoming only the third New Zealander (and first male New Zealander) to win a medal at a Winter Olympics. At age 16 years 91 days, Porteous became New Zealand's youngest Olympic Games medallist, breaking the previous record of 16 years and 353 days set by Zoi Sadowski-Synnott earlier the same day, who had in turn broken the record of 17 years 100 days set by Danyon Loader at the 1992 Summer Olympics. [3]
His best 2017–18 FIS Freestyle Ski World Cup finish is 6th at Cardrona Alpine Resort. [7]
In 2019, Porteous claimed the bronze medal in the superpipe event at the Winter X Games in Aspen, Colorado. [8]
At the 2019 Audi Nines Porteous performed a Switch Alley Oop Double Misty 1080. [9]
In 2021, Porteous claimed his first X Games gold medal in the Superpipe event. [10] In January 2022, Porteous won a gold medal in the freeski halfpipe event at the U.S. Grand Prix World Cup event in California, USA. [11] During the 2022 X Games in Aspen, USA, Porteous defended his title by winning gold in superpipe on the final run of the competition.
On 19 February 2022, Porteous won the gold medal in the men's halfpipe event at the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics. In the 2023 New Year Honours, he was appointed a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit, for services to snow sports. [12]
Kristi Leskinen is an American freestyle skier.
Sarah Jean Burke was a Canadian freestyle skier who was a pioneer of the superpipe event. She was a five-time Winter X Games gold medallist, and won the world championship in the halfpipe in 2005. She successfully lobbied the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to have the event added to the Olympic program for the 2014 Winter Olympics. She was considered a medal favourite in the event. Burke died following a training accident in Utah in 2012.
David Crichton is a professional freestyle skier and former member of the Canadian National Development Ski Team for freestyle mogul skiing.
New Zealand first sent an independent team to the Olympics in 1920. Before this, at the 1908 and 1912 Summer Olympics, New Zealand and Australian athletes competed together in a combined Australasia team. New Zealand has also participated in most Winter Olympic Games since 1952, missing only the 1956 and 1964 Games.
Rosalind Groenewoud is a Canadian freeskier, known as Roz G in the action sports world. She is the 2011 FIS World Champion in halfpipe, Groenewoud is also a 2012 Winter X Games champion x 2 and has 3 silver and two bronze medals from X Games competitions in halfpipe. She won the AFP Overall Championship in 2009 & 2010 and AFP Halfpipe Overall Ranking in 2012. Groenewoud is a two-time Olympian, 2014 and 2018. She is the first woman to design her own pro-model freestyle ski with the female owned ski company Coalition Snow.
Arielle Townsend Gold is an American Olympic medalist snowboarder.
Simon d'Artois is a Canadian freestyle skier. Born and raised in Whistler, BC. He is a member of the Canadian National Halfpipe team. d'Artois competed at the Winter X Games XIX, obtaining the first Canadian gold in the Men's SuperPipe. He has also competed at the U.S. Grand Prix, where in 2013 he fell and hit his head and shoulders near the end of his Superpipe jump.
Cassie Sharpe is a Canadian freestyle skier. Sharpe became the Olympic champion in women's halfpipe after winning gold in Pyeongchang, South Korea at the 2018 Winter Olympics. She won a silver medal at the 2015 World Championships in halfpipe in Kreischberg and won gold and bronze in superpipe at the Winter X Games in 2016 and 2018, respectively.
Kelly Sildaru is an Estonian Olympic freestyle skier.
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Zoi Katherine Sadowski-Synnott is a New Zealand snowboarder, specialising in slopestyle and big air competitions. She won the gold medal in the women's slopestyle and silver in the big air at the 2022 Winter Olympics, becoming New Zealand's first gold medallist and first to win multiple medals at the Winter Olympics. She also won the bronze medal in the women's big air at the 2018 Winter Olympics, and won the women's slopestyle title at the 2019 World Championships.
Miguel Porteous is a New Zealand freestyle skier who competes internationally.
Eileen Feng Gu, also known by her Chinese name Gu Ailing (谷爱凌), is a freestyle skier. Born in the United States, she has competed for China in halfpipe, slopestyle, and big air events since 2019.
Zoe Atkin is a British-American freestyle skier.
Kirsty Muir is a Scottish freestyle skier representing Great Britain who competed in the big air and slopestyle events at the 2022 Winter Olympics. She came second in the big air event at the 2020 Winter Youth Olympics, and third in the big air and slopestyle events at the 2023 X Games.
New Zealand competed at the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, China, from 4 to 20 February 2022. The New Zealand team consisted of 15 athletes—nine men and six women—who competed in five sports. Selection of the New Zealand team was the responsibility of the New Zealand Olympic Committee (NZOC).
The men's halfpipe competition in freestyle skiing at the 2022 Winter Olympics was held on 17 February (qualification) and 19 February (final), at the Genting Snow Park in Zhangjiakou. The podium consisted of all the medalists in the same event in 2018, but in a different order. Nico Porteous of New Zealand, the 2018 bronze medalist, won the event, bringing to New Zealand the second ever winter Olympic gold medal. David Wise of the United States, the champion in both previous events, won the silver medal, and Alex Ferreira, also of the United States, the 2018 silver medalist, this time won bronze.
Ben Barclay is a New Zealand freestyle skier. He made his Olympic debut representing New Zealand at the 2022 Winter Olympics.
Mitsuki Ono is a Japanese snowboarder. She represented Japan at the 2022 Winter Olympics.
Gustav Legnavsky is a New Zealand freestyle skier who specialises in halfpipe. He represented New Zealand at the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing.