Max Parrot had to wait a little longer than Mark McMorris and Sébastien Toutant, but like his compatriots, he got his ticket to participate in the final of the slopestyle event at the Beijing Olympics.
This means that the three Canadians continue on their way to try to climb on the Olympic podium. Parrot had a first run with a score of 70.11 points and this total held for him to finish among the top 12 riders in the standings who qualified for the final.
Silver medalist in this discipline at the PyeongChang Olympics in 2018, Parrot continues to inspire him who had shared that he had cancer after the previous Games. Now back in competition, Parrot managed to finish in 10and position in qualifying.
Parrot’s compatriot, McMorris has shown that he is to be taken seriously in a quest for a third Olympic medal in this Olympic discipline. He had finished on the third step of the podium at the Olympic Games in Sochi and PyeongChang.
After a conservative first run which earned him 62.70 points, the Canadian pulled out all the stops on his second try, earning a score of 83.30 points to finish the qualifying phase in second position behind the Chinese Yiming Su who obtained 86.80 points.
After missing his landing on his first jump of the Olympics, Toutant rebounded with a second attempt that saw him climb into the top-10 with an eighth place finish with a score of 71.06.
Darcy Sharpe was the fourth Canadian to hope to reach the final, but a crash on his final attempt robbed him of that joy, finishing the competition in 23and position.
Gold medalist at the Pyeongchang Games, the American Redmond Gerard will have the opportunity to defend his title by virtue of his fifth place obtained on Sunday. His compatriot Chris Corning, 2019 world champion, also qualified, in 11th place.
Reigning world champion, Norwegian Marcus Kleveland could not do himself justice on the difficult Chinese course, finishing the qualifications in 14th place.
The snowboarders will be back in action Sunday evening at 11 p.m. for the final.
