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BEIJING, China — Weather conditions made life difficult for skiers throughout the men’s halfpipe event at the Beijing Olympics on Saturday. The Canadians couldn’t adapt as crashes and technical errors deprived them of a chance for a medal.
Noah Bowman was the top Canadian, finishing just off the podium. His score of 84.75 earned him fourth place, two points from the bronze medal.
High hopes were pinned on Brendan Mackay, who has been on the podium in all three World Cup events this season and is ranked No. 1 in the world rankings. Unfortunately, he tried everything, but he was unable to achieve a perfect run on his three attempts. He had to settle for a score of 65.50 good for ninth place.
Finally, Simon D’Artois took 10th place with 63.75 points.
It was New Zealander Nico Porteous who won and won gold with a score of 93 points. Two Americans completed the podium. David Wise earned silver with 90.75 points and Alex Ferreira took bronze with 86.75 points.
Their teammate Aaron Blunck, first in qualifying, was unable to repeat his performance and was excluded from the podium.
Wise was the reigning two-time Olympic champion in the event. He had won gold in Sochi in 2014 and in PyeongChang in 2018.
The one who dethroned him, the young Porteous, had won the bronze medal at the age of 16 at the PyeongChang Games.
” I can not believe it. I’m on cloud nine,” reacted New Zealander Porteous, whose older brother Miguel Porteous took 11th place in the final.
“It’s really special to have my brother here with me,” said the new Olympic champion. Everyone would dream of it. It’s a memory that will forever be etched in my mind. »
In the very windy conditions of the Zhangjiakou snowpark, David Wise, crowned in 2014 and 2018, showed that he still had the weapons, at 31, to compete with the new generation of half-pipes.
“It gives me a little advantage when there’s a lot of wind because I’m much heavier than them,” he joked. The outcome is not the same as in my last Games, but I am very proud to still be competitive. »
