Wanaka snowboarder Zoi Sadowski-Synnott has defended her title at the Aspen 2021 FIS Snowboard World Championships at Aspen's Buttermilk resort. She is the first person ever to defend a FIS Snowboard World Championship title.

It was a clutch performance which saw Zoi jump from last into the top spot on the very last run of the competition.

Zoi came into the competition as the defending champion and top qualifier and was the last of eight finalists to drop into the three rail, three jump course.

Zoi struggled to land clean runs on her first two attempts with stumbles on the top rail and first jump.

“I knew if I landed my run I had a good chance of taking the top spot,” said Zoi. “It was all up to me, I knew I could do those tricks, I was just trying to get it done so I could defend the title.”

Double Olympic gold medallist Jamie Anderson (USA) was once again the woman to beat. The second to last rider to drop and sitting in first place on 81.10, Jamie was tantalisingly close to claiming her first Slopestyle World Championship gold medal but it was not to be.

Zoi signalled that she was setting up for a high score with a technical rail run at the top of the course before lacing together a stylish switch back 900, frontside 720 and backside double 1080 on the jumps for a score of 85.95. 

Zoi told Newstalk ZB this morning that the win means she has qualified for the Beijing Olympics. “This counts as olympics qualifying so pretty stoked as I’ve qualified now and can just focus on the training and the tricks so that I’m ready when I get to Beijing”.

Australia’s Tess Coady rounded out the podium in third place. 

Also amongst the top eight competitors in the women’s snowboard slopestyle finals was 18-year-old Queenstown rider, Cool Wakushima, making her World Championships debut and with only one World Cup start to her name. 

PHOTO: Supplied