From fall to final, McMorris fights on for elusive Slopestyle gold

Two weeks after losing consciousness following a heavy crash in training, Mark McMorris (CAN) could win his fourth Olympic Snowboard Slopestyle medal.

The 32-year-old qualified third for Wednesday’s final at Livigno Snow Park, where he will be joined by Pyeongchang 2018 champion Redmond Gerard (USA), Beijing 2022 silver medalist Su Yiming (CHN) and top qualifier Dane Menzies (NZL).

Second to drop on 15 February, Menzies nearly scored a perfect 10 on his first rail — a backside lipslide 270 earning him 9.80 points. He then linked a big, clean jump line on the bottom half of the course — a switch backside 1260 mute, into a frontside 1440 tail grab, and finishing with a backside 1620 melon — to score a total of 86.06 points. It would prove to be the highest score of the day.

“It felt pretty good for sure, I definitely was not expecting that,” said Menzies, third in Slopestyle at Snowmass last month, which was his first World Cup podium. “I didn’t expect the judges to score that high, but they’re liking my selection of rails, so that’s good.”

Two-time Slopestyle World Champion Marcus Kleveland (NOR) was the only other competitor that had a better score (81.86) than McMorris.

McMorris performed a switch frontside 1620 mute grab, a backside triple cork 1440 Indy, and a frontside 1440 frontside grab to earn 81.81 points on his first run. His second-run score of 78.58 alone would have been good enough for sixth place, belying his form in the lead-up to qualification.

The four-time Olympian suffered a concussion, a bruised pelvis and strained abdominal muscles after falling in Big Air practice on 4 February, forcing him to withdraw from that competition.

But, with three consecutive Olympic Slopestyle bronze medals, he is not about to give up on his quest for gold.

McMorris hinted that he will attempt to land a 1800 in the 12-man final, which starts at 11:20 CET on Wednesday.

He is the only male Slopestyle athlete on hand for Milano Cortina 2026 who also competed at Sochi 2014, which was the first time the discipline was contested at the Games.

Su, this season’s Slopestyle World Cup leader, was 13 when McMorris made his Olympic debut. The Beijing 2022 Slopestyle silver medalist and Milano Cortina Big Air bronze medalist on 7 February qualified in eighth with 72.78 points.

Big Air silver medalist Ryoma Kimata (JPN) will also be looking for his second medal at these Games after qualifying in fourth (80.83).

Gerard, second in the 2024/25 Slopestyle Crystal Globe standings behind Cameron Spalding (CAN), was 11th (70.00) while Spalding was fifth (78.76).