Sixteen-year-old Gustav Legnavsky from Wānaka is among eight athletes who this morning (Thursday January 20) were named to the New Zealand team for the Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games.

Gustav, who competes in freeski halfpipe, will be the youngest member of the New Zealand team.

“It’s amazing, this time last year it was only a dream,” Gustav said. “It’s going to be surreal to be wearing the fern - I have been wanting to have the New Zealand fern on my arm and compete for my country.”

Gustav has numerous podium finishes at FIS and European Cup halfpipe events, and in January 2022 he achieved his career-best result with an eighth place finish at the Mammoth Mountain Halfpipe World Cup.

Gustav will have plenty of familiar faces around him in Beijing with Wānaka locals Ben Harrington (20) and Miguel Porteous (22) also named in the Olympic freeski halfpipe squad today. 

Ben Harrington. PHOTO: Ross Mackay

Miguel Porteous. PHOTO: Olympics.org.nz

They will join the previously selected Nico Porteous.

“I have been 100 percent inspired by Nico. He was my age when he went to PyeongChang and did really well. It would be cool to keep that legacy going on,” Gustav said.

Beijing 2022 will be Miguel’s second Winter Olympic Games. He represented New Zealand at the PyeongChang 2018 Games in freeski halfpipe, finishing in 17th place.

He heads into Beijing off the back of a fifth place finish at the Mammoth Mountain Freeski Halfpipe World Cup.

Meanwhile Beijing 2022 will be Ben’s first Winter Olympic Games. Ben has had a breakout season achieving two career best World Cup top 10 finishes and an invite to the prestigious X Games.

Wānaka based freeski slopestyle athlete Ben Barclay (19) has also been named this morning to compete in Beijing.

Ben Barclay competing at the Kreischberg Big Air in Austria last year 2021 PHOTO: FIS Freeski

Ben is in hot form, claiming silver in the France Freeski Slopestyle World Cup earlier this week to cement his Olympic spot. 

He will be competing in freeski slopestyle and big air at his first Olympic Winter Games appearance.

Snow Sports NZ CEO and high performance director Nic Cavanagh said it is fantastic to have eight additional snowsports athletes on the team.

“We are sending an incredibly strong team to Beijing and I’m really looking forward to seeing them in action on the world’s biggest stage,” Nic said.

Also named this morning are Queenstown snowboarders Tiarn Collins (snowboard slopestyle and big air) and Cool Wakushima (snowboard slopestyle and big air), along with Freeski halfpipe athletes Chloe McMillan (21) and Anja Barugh (22).

The athletes will join their snow sports teammates Alice Robinson, Zoi Sadowski-Synnott, Nico Porteous, Margaux Hackett and Finn Bilous who were named to the New Zealand Team last year. 

Today’s naming takes the total number of athletes in the New Zealand team for Beijing to 14, with a final opportunity for selection to take place within the next week.

The Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games will run from February 4-20, featuring 2,800 athletes competing across 15 disciplines in 109 medal events.