Canada’s Max Parrot won the bronze medal in the men’s big air snowboard final at the Beijing Winter Olympics on Tuesday, his second medal of the 2022 Games.
Parrot won the gold in the slopestyle event last week. It was Canada’s only gold of the Games until Isabelle Weidemann, Ivanie Blondin and Valerie Maltais finished first in the women’s team pursuit speed skating event on Tuesday.
The 27-year-old Quebec native fell in his first of three runs, but recovered on his second jump by landing a huge cab 1,800 to earn a score of 94 — the second highest overall for that run.
He then scored a respectable 76.25 with a 1,620 in his third and final run, his top two scores combining to claim second place. He then fell to the bronze position after Norway’s Mons Roisland finished with a better third run to take silver.
“After (the first run) I was extremely bummed, disappointed in myself because that trick I landed a couple of times in practice and I knew I could do it,” Parrot said. “I was just short a little bit on speed and I had a lot of pressure for second and third runs.
“On my second run, I tried to focus as hard as I could and was able to land my 1800 the best I’ve done the whole week and got a 94. I was proud of that.”
China’s Su Yiming took gold after completing two spectacular runs with a combined score of 182.5. With his win secure, he did a simple flip and spin for his third run as a victory lap for the hometown crowd.
Fellow Canadians Mark McMorris and Darcy Sharpe finished 10th and 12, respectively.
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.
Canada has now won six medals in snowboarding — one gold, one silver and four bronze.
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.
— with files from The Canadian Press.