Sadowski-Synnott defends X Games slopestyle gold, edges Coady on final run
Austin Colbert/The Aspen Times
Tess Coady knew the drill.
Leading the women’s snowboard slopestyle final at X Games Aspen with only one rider to go on Friday, it seemed inevitable she would finish second, considering that the final rider was Zoi Sadowski-Synnott.
“When she was dropping in for that last run — I think the last two events before this she did the same thing,” Coady said. “She is such a savage in the comp, so you can always count on her to win for sure.”
Sure enough, New Zealand’s Sadowski-Synnott owned her final run, finishing with a flourish to jump her ahead of Coady at the buzzer. It was her fourth gold medal in Aspen and third in slopestyle — a list that includes both big air and slopestyle gold in 2022.
Since winning her first X Games medal in 2019 — slopestyle gold — the now 21-year-old Kiwi has become the most dominant force in the discipline.
“I never expected to reach that at X Games again,” Sadowski-Synnott said. “To be able to push through and put down a run I’m stoked on and defend my gold medal is a dream come true.”
The last-second defeat was hardly a downer for Coady. With her silver medal, the 22-year-old Australian became the first woman from her country to earn an X Games medal in slopestyle snowboarding.
“Zoe is one of my best friends, so it’s sick to be able to shred with her,” she said. “We get so hyped for each other. There is no one else I would rather have beat me than Zoe.”
It was the first competition of this year’s X Games, back at Buttermilk Ski Area in Aspen for the 22nd consecutive winter, albeit under new ownership. Tahoe’s Jamie Anderson, the most decorated athlete in women’s snowboard slopestyle history, did not compete due to her pregnancy.
Still, Sadowski-Synnott and Coady had plenty of competition, including two-time reigning Olympic big air gold medalist Anna Gasser. The Austrian star wasn’t able to crack the podium, which was filled out by Japan’s Kokomo Murase, who won a slopestyle medal in Aspen for only the second time (bronze, 2020).
Austin Colbert/The Aspen Times
The athletes competed with a continuous running clock and continually updated leaderboard with no actual scores awarded.
There was light snow falling for much of Friday’s midday competition, although Sadowski-Synnott said it got better as the event went on. It did, however, cause enough pause that the riders didn’t necessarily send their biggest tricks.
“It was pretty tough conditions out there,” she said. “I think a lot of us girls would have liked to see bigger runs, for sure. I would have honestly liked to do a bigger run and put down my switch back 12, but I’m so hyped to show the variety I did in my run.”
She, Coady, and Murase — along with Gasser — will be back for the women’s snowboard big air final at 6:15 p.m. on Saturday.
Austin Colbert/The Aspen Times
Austin Colbert/The Aspen Times
Austin Colbert/The Aspen Times
Austin Colbert/The Aspen Times
Austin Colbert/The Aspen Times
Industry pros promote regional approach to housing crisis at summit
Habitat for Humanity Roaring Fork Valley hosted the “Solving the Housing Crisis: A Regional Summit on Equitable Solutions” at Aspen Meadows on Wednesday. The event featured a series of sessions and panels divided by expertise.
