WATCH: Snowboarder Mark McMorris kicked off Canada’s 3-medal day with a bronze in Slopestyle. Allison Vuchnich recaps everything from day 3 in Sochi.
Canada’s Mark McMorris has proven to be the king of second-run comebacks, nailing a bronze medal in the first ever Olympic slopestyle event.
McMorris scored an impressive 88.75 on his second run – a huge 55-point improvement over his 33.75 first run.
The Regina, Sask. native grabbed Canada’s first podium placement at the Sochi Olympics.
Though he entered the Olympics as a gold medal favourite, McMorris had his fans on edge throughout the competition, partly because he was recently injured.
The 20-year-old had fractured a rib less than two weeks ago at the 2014 X Games.
In the semifinal qualifiers, McMorris finished his first run with a score of 29.50 after falling near the start.
The injured boarder made it to the finals with a strong second run, scoring 89.25.
“Obviously my first run was unfortunate; I fell on something I shouldn’t have fallen on. It felt really good pain-wise, riding-wise,” McMorris said. “I put it down as clean as I could have in my second run, and I didn’t get the score I wanted. It’s hurting mentally a little bit.”
Fierce competition in first ever slopestyle Olympic event
American Sage Kotsenberg won gold with a second-run score of 93.50.
McMorris was positioned for a silver medal for the latter half of the finals, but was edged into third place by Norway’s Staale Sandbech, who earned silver with a score of 91.75.
Maxence Parrot, from Bromont, Que., was fifth with 87.25, while Montreal’s Sebastian Toutant was ninth with a 58.50.
Charles Reid of Mont-Tremblant, Que., was eliminated after finishing 14th in the semifinal.
With files from Global News’ Adam Frisk, Peter Hadzipetros, Andrew Russell and The Canadian Press
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