BEIJING — Canada's Max Parrot won the bronze medal in men's big air at the Beijing Olympics barely a week after winning gold in slopestyle.
The 27-year-old from Bromont, Que., fell on his first jump, but landed a huge cab 1800 on his second attempt. His 1620 on his third jump was enough to get him on the medal podium.
Parrot won slopestyle on Feb. 7, three years to the day since he began 12 rounds of chemotherapy to treat Hodgkin lymphoma.
Canada's Mark McMorris was 10th on Tuesday, while teammate Darcy Sharpe was 12th.
China's 17-year-old star Su Yiming set the pace, landing front- and back-side 1800s on his first two jumps to win gold.
Mons Roisland of Norway won the silver, surpassing Parrot on his final jump.
McMorris, a 28-year-old from Regina, played it safe with a 1620 on his first jump, but fell on an 1800 on his second, setting himself up for a do-or-die third attempt.
He went for a quad cork 1800, flying nine metres in the air, but fell on the landing.
Canada's reigning men's big air champion, Sebastien Toutant, wasn't able to defend his title Tuesday after falling twice in the qualifier a night earlier.
The points from the boarders' two best jumps are added together for a final tally.
Earlier Tuesday, Jasmine Baird of Georgetown, Ont., was seventh and Quebec City's Laurie Blouin was eighth in the women's event.
Blouin, a silver medallist from the 2018 Pyeongchang Olympics, was in medal contention after her second jump, but fell on her third jump to erase any podium hopes.
Anna Gasser of Austria, the oldest woman in the field at 30, executed a huge cab 1260 on her final jump to overtake Zoi Sadowsky Synnott of New Zealand and capture her second consecutive Olympic gold. Kokomo Murase of Japan won the bronze.
The Big Air Shougang venue is one of the most unique of these Games. Built on an abandoned steel mill that stretches for several blocks, the monolithic cooling towers make for a striking backdrop and have drawn comparisons to the nuclear power plant on "The Simpsons."
It resembles a giant stiletto when lit up at night.
It's the only permanent big air structure in the world, and stands 60 metres high and 160 metres long.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 15, 2022.
The Canadian Press
