Rising Force: How New Zealand redefined its Winter Olympic identity
Gold Medal System turns Kiwi snow athletes into serious medal contenders
After waiting 40 years to win its first Winter Olympic medal at Albertville 1992, it took New Zealand another quarter of a century to claim its second.
By any measure, the country’s foray into elite winter sports was a slow burn. Thankfully, that’s all behind them now.
For the past decade, the nation of 5.5 million has been churning out world-class ski and snowboard athletes at an impressive clip.
Snowboard sensation Zoi Sadowski-Synnott and freestyle skier Nico Porteous are the two prime examples, having lifted their country’s Olympic Winter medal count to six by winning a bronze apiece at PyeongChang 2018 and gold at Beijing 2022 (Sadowski-Synnott also pocketed a silver).
But the two former Olympic scholarship-holders are far from the only medal contenders in the nation’s newfound winter arsenal. With the Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026 looming, a bumper crop of exceptionally talented young athletes was in the running to make the New Zealand Olympic squad in 2025.
Among those likely to join Sadowski-Synnott and Porteous on the Olympic stage were Olympic scholarship-holders Ruby Star Andrews (21), Luca Harrington (22), Luke Harrold (17) and Fin Melville Ives (19) – all Pipe and Park athletes with a growing number of podium finishes between them at elite international competitions, including a Gold and Bronze medal for Harrold and a Silver medal for Ives at the Winter Youth Olympic Games Gangwon 2024.
Backed by its recent Olympic performances and a fresh cadre of young stars, New Zealand stood poised to head to Italy not as a perennial underdog but as a genuine threat in several disciplines.
Which begged the question: How did such a transformation occur in the course of only a decade?
“New Zealand’s rise in freeski and snowboard performance hasn’t happened by accident,” explained Nic Cavanagh, Chief Executive of Snow Sports New Zealand (SSNZ). “It’s been the product of a long‑term, deliberate system shift.”
That shift, dubbed the “Gold Medal System,” was set into motion with the creation of the SSNZ in 2017.
Adaptive snow sports, alpine ski racing, cross-country skiing, freeskiing, and snowboarding were all brought under the SSNZ umbrella, whose stated goal is to lead, support and grow snow sport athletes from grassroots to elite competition.
The Gold Medal System is structured around an athlete development pathway that starts with early talent identification (athletes aged 11 to 13 years old), world-class coaching and training environments, and the slightly less tangible “stoke” factor.
While not unique to New Zealand, the stoke – aka “the intrinsic joy of thriving in the mountain that does not solely rely on competition,” according to the SSNZ website – is certainly an important factor behind the country’s winter sports ascent.
“One of our biggest strengths is our culture,” added Cavanagh. “Athletes stay in the sport because they genuinely love what they do, and the stoke is a pillar of our system. That balance between joy and high performance keeps people motivated and resilient over long careers.”
It certainly helped Olympic debutant Andrews, who relied on her competitive fire and love for what she does as fuel to rehab from a dislocated hip suffered only three months ahead of the Games.
“I feel really stoked,” Andrews said about recovering in time to take part at Milano Cortina. “It’s been a hard couple of weeks but it’s all worth it.”
Olympic Solidarity scholarships have also played a role in enabling New Zealand to make a mark in winter sports. Five Kiwi athletes received monthly grants on the road to Milano Cortina 2026, which helped cover the costs of training, equipment and travel.
“Without Olympic Solidarity funding, several of these athletes would not have had the financial or logistical capacity to prepare adequately for Olympic qualification,” said Cavanagh. “The support quite literally opened doors that otherwise would have remained closed.”
New Zealand’s 40-year wait for its first Winter Olympic medal is now a distant memory, replaced by a decade of unprecedented momentum. With a system designed for success and a squad energised by a genuine love for the snow, the Kiwis are no longer chasing the elite, they have become the elite.
“The progress our snow sports athletes have made in recent years reflects years of commitment and hard work,” said NZOC Secretary General Nicki Nicol. “Watching our growth on the snow reinforces our vision for The New Zealand Team to inspire pride and excellence in all New Zealanders.”
Win or lose in Milano Cortina, the stoke is just getting started for The New Zealand Team.
POSTSCRIPT | The New Zealand Team Olympic Scholarship-holders at Milano Cortina 2026
Competed in both women’s freeski slopestyle and big air, finishing 17th in slopestyle and 24th in big air, marking her first Olympic appearance.
Despite entering as the reigning world champion in big air, Luca Harrington finished sixth in the event. Two days later, he responded strongly, winning his first Olympic medal with bronze in the men’s freeski slopestyle.
Competed in the men’s freeski halfpipe, finishing 15th overall in his Olympic debut.
The reigning world champion in his event, Finley Melville Ives arrived in Italy as a leading medal contender. His Games came to an early end after a serious crash during halfpipe qualification, forcing him to withdraw from the event. He was later reported to have broken his collarbone.