New Zealand claims second Beijing Winter Olympics gold medal as Nico Porteous wins ski half-pipe

New Zealand has claimed its second gold medal of the Beijing Winter Olympics, with freestyle skier Nico Porteous surviving gusty conditions to claim victory in the men's half-pipe competition.

The 20-year-old reigning halfpipe world champion from Hamilton improved on his bronze medal from PyeongChang with a superb first run in which he scored 93.00.

«I'm so, so happy and I'm currently over the moon. I still can't really believe it,» Porteous said.

The Wanaka-based skier sent down back-to-back double cork 1620s on that first run and was never challenged despite failing to land his next two runs in tricky conditions in Zhangjiakou.

He beat out Americans David Wise (90.75) and Alex Ferreira (86.75) into silver and bronze respectively.

Porteous's older brother Miguel also competed in the competition, coming 11th.

«I think that's anyone's dream. Especially in those moments, I'll never forget something like that. That's a lifetime memory that will never go away,» Nico said.

"[I'm] really proud to call him my brother."

The New Zealand team performed a haka in honour of his achievement at the bottom of the run, the impact not diluted by the fact they were fully rugged up in mittens and hats in the -25C temperatures.

It is New Zealand's third medal of the Games, marking the country's most successful Winter Olympics in more than 70 years of competition.

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