Kiwi freeskier Nico Porteous has won gold in the X Games superpipe final after an incredible clutch run that saw him jump from third to the top of the podium.
The 20-year-old came into the competition as the defending X Games champion, but sat in third place going into his final, and the event's final run.
A man who loves pressure, Porteous held his nerve to put together a brilliant run that included back-to-back 1620s - a trick that only he could pull off.
"I'm speechless," Porteous said at the bottom of the pipe.
"To pull it off on that last run, this means so much to me right now."
Americans Aaron Blunck and David Wise took silver and bronze respectively.
Fellow Kiwis Miguel Porteous and Ben Harrington were also competing, but were unable to land clean enough runs to force their way onto the podium.
Speaking to 1News, Nico said despite being guaranteed a bronze medal going into his final run, he only had eyes for gold.
"To be totally honest, I wasn't happy with just third. I really wanted to take the top spot tonight and land the combo that I had planned.
The Kiwi freeskier said he only had eyes for gold as he stood at the top of the halfpipe. (Source: 1News)
"Going into the fourth run and not everything going my way and happening how I wanted them to, I just pulled something out of nowhere.
"I’m not spiritual, but that was a miracle. It was crazy and it is really rewarding when it does end like that for sure."
Porteous heads to Switzerland on Tuesday for his final preparations before the Beijing Olympics next month.
While he goes in a heavy gold medal favourite, Porteous remains grounded and said he was taking everything one day at a time.
"Anything can happen on the day at the Olympics and all I can do is what I did tonight and that’s leave it all out there and try my best and we’ll see what happens."
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