24 Oct 2017

Teenagers dominate NZ Winter Olympic team

3:33 pm on 24 October 2017

The 15-year old skier Nico Porteus will become New Zealand's youngest Winter Olympian after being named in the team for next year's Games in South Korea in February.

A nine strong team, which includes six teenage athletes, was named in Wanaka today with Nico, who will compete in the freeski halfpipe, named along side his brother and fellow freekskier Miguel.

Others selected include freeskiers Finn Bilous and Janina Kuzma who returns for her second Olympic Games, having finished fifth in the halfpipe at Sochi in 2014 along with snowboarders Tiarn Collins, Rakai Tait, Zoi Sadowski Synnott and Carlos Garcia Knight,

Jamie Prebble in ski cross rounds out the team.

Nico Porteous.

Nico Porteous. Photo: Photosport

Nico began skiing at the age of four on a family holiday to France and enjoyed it so much that when not on snow he would practise skiing on the carpet at home.

He spent five years ski race training before moving into freeskiing when he was nine and is the youngest skier in the world to land a triple cork.

Further athletes will be selected over the next couple of months as they meet qualifying criteria with additional freeskiers and snowboarders along with speedskating, skeleton and alpine ski competitors likely to be added.

Nico Porteous, who will be 16 years and 78 days on the first day of the games, said "it's been a big dream of mine to represent my country at the Olympic Winter Games, there's been lots of build up so for it be finally happening is very cool."

It's going to be pretty awesome to get to compete alongside my brother as well," he said.

"Everything's going really well, I've has a successful training period at spring camp, I've been training well and getting all my tricks so I'm ready to go."

The selection announcement was made at a low key ceremony in Wanaka also included the hand over of Te Mahutonga, the Olympic team's kakahu (cloak) from the Rio 2016 Olympic Team to the PyeongChang 2018 team.

"With just over 100 days to go, we are very pleased to welcome the first athletes to the New Zealand Olympic Winter Team," said NZOC chief executive Kereyn Smith.

With seven of the nine athletes named being 20 years old or younger, the selection demonstrates the depth of young talent currently within New Zealand snow sports she said.

Freeski halfpipe athlete Janina Kuzma is looking forward to her second Olympic Winter Olympic Games.

"I'm feeling really good, I'm working on putting together my runs and getting them really solid. I've got some good training camps and competitions coming up so it's time to throw down," she said.

The Olympic Winter Games will take place in PyeongChang, South Korea February 9-25.

A team of around 20 New Zealand athletes is expected to compete at the games.

Up to 95 nations and 3000 athletes will compete in 7 sports, 15 disciplines and 102 events in PyeongChang.