Nico Porteous has won a gold medal in the men’s freeski halfpipe final in Beijing.
The Wanaka freeskier had a sensation first run on the Olympic course. He landed a thrilling combination of back-to-back 1620s, to score 93 points.
His secon run wasn’t as good and he crashed out on his final run, but held onto that lead to win the gold.
Porteous is the current world champion and now has a gold to match the bronze he won in Pyeongchang four years ago
“I’m so, so happy and I’m currently over the moon. I still can’t really believe it,” said Porteous
Brother Miguel Porteous also competed in the event, finishing 11th.
Porteous’ gold medal is only the second for New Zealand at the Winter Olympics, after Zoi Sadowski-Synnott won the country’s first ever Winter Olympics Gold in the women’s slopestyle event.
