Three Canadian athletes made history in Beijing on Thursday after winning bronze in the first freestyle skiing mixed-team aerials event at an Olympics.
Marion Thenault, Miha Fontaine and Lewis Irving, all of Quebec, were representing Canada for the final at the Genting Snow Park in Zhangjiakou, China.
Canada was among six nations appearing in the qualifying stage, and advanced to the medal round with a combined score of 326.94, making them the third seed team in the last stage. China, the United States and Switzerland also advanced.
In the final, the Canadians locked in a combined score of 290.98 for bronze. The United States won gold, while China took home silver.
The medal win is Canada’s 11th of the 2022 Games, and first in an aerials event since Veronica Brenner and Deidra Dionne won silver and bronze in women’s aerials at the 2002 Games.
The Canadians placed fifth at the 2019 world championships and sixth in 2021.
— with files from The Canadian Press.