New Zealand win historic Olympic gold but wind postpones downhill

"Super-proud" snowboarder Zoi Sadowski Synnott made history for New Zealand after winning their first ever Winter Olympics gold medal on Sunday but bad weather played havoc with the eagerly anticipated men's downhill skiing.

Seven golds were up for grabs on the second full day of competition in the Chinese capital, as the sports took centre stage after a build-up overshadowed by Covid and rights concerns.

Seven became six when the main event of the day, the men's downhill -- one of the most closely watched events at the Winter Olympics -- was postponed because of gusty winds and will now take place on Monday instead.

Wind also caused the cancellation of Saturday's third and final training run, albeit after three racers had come down the "Rock" course in Yanqing, notably hot favourite Aleksander Aamodt Kilde of Norway.

There was no such trouble for the 20-year-old Sadowski Synnott, who held her nerve under brilliant blue skies to take the women's snowboard slopestyle title with the last run of the competition and make history.

"Honestly it's absolute disbelief but it probably means more to me to win New Zealand's first Winter Olympic gold," said Sadowski Synnott, who was born in Sydney and moved to New Zealand when she was six.

"It makes me super proud to be a Kiwi."

Sadowski Synnott, who spent Covid lockdown back in New Zealand jumping on a trampoline to help her aerial awareness, launched into a massive jump with her final trick to earn a winning score of 92.88.

She was mobbed at the finish by American Julia Marino, who was relegated into silver with 87.68, and bronze medallist Tess Coady of Australia.

New Zealand had previously won one silver and two bronze medals at the Winter Olympics -- including a third-place finish for