Our bronze Olympic medal winner – Nico Porteous!
Whāia te iti kahurangi ki te tūohu koe me he maunga teitei - Seek the treasure you value most dearly: if you bow your head, let it be to a lofty mountain
Te Kura student Nico has won bronze in the men's ski halfpipe finals in PyeongChang.
Nico has been on our roll since 2013 when he enrolled under the Exceptional Art and Sports category as an overseas student.
At that point he was in Year 7, living in Perth, training in Wanaka and competing in the USA. Even at this early stage he showed potential to be an Winter Olympic champion. He was the youngest person to complete a ‘triple cork’ in 2016.
In 2016 Nico received a Red Bull sponsorship and by getting into the Red Bull team was fast-tracked towards his goal of qualifying for the Olympics.
Being at Te Kura through his primary years enabled Nico to continue with his schoolwork while fulfilling his dream. Currently Nico is working towards NCEA Level 1. He is an able student although fitting his schoolwork into his busy schedule has become something of a challenge.
You might be interested to know Nico’s coach Mitch Brown also studied through Te aho o Te Kura Pounamu, as did all of the Wells brothers. Nico’s brother Miguel, who was in the same event, but did not qualify for the final is also currently on our roll.
Nico’s current learning advisor and all his teachers are thrilled with his success.