(Editor’s note: contains language that some readers may find offensive)
By Philip O’Connor
ZHANGJIAKOU, China (Reuters) – New Zealanders were in ecstasy on Sunday when Zoi Sadowski-Synnott won their first-ever Olympic gold medal — none more so than her dad Sean, whose emotional and slightly profane TV interview has since gone viral.
“I’m pretty fucking excited to be honest,” he said of his daughter’s victory in the Olympic slopestyle competition, adding another couple of spicy anecdotes in a joyous TV appearance.
“Yeah, I think really that he had a few too many drinks at that point, but you can’t really blame him, it was Waitangi Day in New Zealand (a national holiday) and his daughter just won the Olympics so..!” she told Reuters, laughing.
“The last 24 hours has been a whirlwind, super-stoked to be standing here with gold around my neck,” she added.
New Zealand prime minister Jacinda Arden also got in on the act, sending a slightly more formal message of congratulations to the snowboarder.
“Honestly the reaction has been absolutely insane, I haven’t been able to keep up with all the support and love that I’ve got and then I got a shoutout from Jacinda.
“So yeah, I told her that we say hi from the whole team here in Beijing, and we hope to make them proud.”
Her dad’s reaction was a reflection of Kiwi delight all over the country, Zoi’s coach Sean Thomson said.
“He’s amazing, it just was so cool to see the emotion coming out of him in that clip,” he told Reuters.
“We loved it and we loved all the support from back home with friends and family. It’s just really special what Zoi has done here, and to see everyone react the way they have been doing is just something else.”
The victory comes just a few weeks after the 20-year-old won two gold medals at X-Games in Aspen, Colorado, and she will go for Olympic gold again in the Big Air event, which starts on Monday Feb 14.
(Reporting by Philip O’Connor and Emily Rowe; Editing by Shri Navaratnam)
