Put Olympic champ on ice

next week in Austria.

‘‘This my first surgery, and first proper rehab, so it’s been a big learning experience for sure,’’ said the youngster who is even now moving freely in a walking capacity. ‘‘The mentally painful thing about an ACL is about 3-4 months out you normally feel pretty good, but it’s not until that 9-10-month mark the graft actually becomes strong again.

‘‘You feel pretty normal for five months, which will give me good time to get strong in the gym and get back to where I need to be.’’

That process will take a step up when he departs today for sponsor Red Bull’s state-of-theart rehab facility in Austria.

‘‘That will give me an opportunity to live there and do a 9-5 rehab schedule five days a week. I’ll do a five-week block there, and get out of the cold of winter to go to summer.’’

Porteous became the first New Zealand male – and second Kiwi behind snowboarder Zoi Sadowski-synnott – to win a Winter Olympics gold medal when he won the freeski halfpipe with a best score of 93.00.

The pair ended a 70-year wait for a Kiwi Winter Olympian to rise to the top step of the podium.