Canadian snowboarder Max Parrot has claimed a gold medal at the Winter Olympics in Beijing just three years after being diagnosed with cancer.
Parrot took part in the men’s snowboard slopestyle, and topped the podium after an impressive score of 90.96 in his second run saw him finish ahead of silver medalist Su Yiming of China, and fellow Canadian Mark McMorris who took bronze.
Victory in Beijing caps off a remarkable three years for Parrot, after he was diagnosed with Hodgkin Lymphoma in late 2018.
He then recovered from the illness a year later in 2019 after 12 rounds of chemotherapy, and has now finished off a whirlwind few years by collecting a Winter Olympic gold on Monday.
Speaking after his remarkable achievement the Canadian revealed it was an ‘amazing feeling’ and admitted it was ‘hard to describe’ just what he had been through in the build up.
He told the BBC : “It feels amazing. So much went by in those last four years.
“The last time I was at the Olympics, in Pyeongchang, I got a silver medal, and then I had to go through cancer. It was a nightmare - it's so hard to describe what I've been through.
"You have no cardio, you have no energy, you have no muscles. To be back out here, at the Olympics, on a podium again but with a gold medal, it feels amazing."
Parrot went on to describe his gold medal run as the ‘best run of my entire life’.
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He continued: “I laid down the best run of my entire life. I'm so proud of every feature, how I was able to clear them, and I'm really stoked with my score."
The Canadian’s gold medal triumph was not without its controversies though, as judges failed to spot an error in his second run.
As a result Parrot appeared to miss a board grab part way through his showing, however received no penalty on his score as it was seemingly not noticed by judges.
Despite already having a gold medal round his neck, the Canadian’s Winter Olympics is far from over, as he is set to compete in the big air event on February 14.
