(Beijing) Olympic champion Maxence Parrot has confirmed that fellow Canadian Mark McMorris has apologized to him for questioning the validity of his slopestyle victory at the Beijing Olympics.
Posted at 6:59 p.m.
Parrot admitted he made a mistake — he missed a boardhold — on his first jump in the snowboard final. He says he was lucky the judges didn’t notice him.
The 27-year-old snowboarder still maintained that he had the best run of the day and that his first Olympic gold medal of his career was justified.
McMorris finished third in the event, 2.43 points behind Parrot. Because of this narrow gap, he would have won the silver medal if the judges had noted the Quebecer’s error.
On Friday, McMorris told CBC he thinks he should have scored better than Parrot and China’s Su Yiming, who finished second.
Parrot said McMorris apologized to him in person on Saturday morning. The snowboarder from Saskatchewan also posted a similar message on Twitter.
“I let my emotions get to me in the days following the slopestyle event and I sincerely want to apologize to Max,” McMorris wrote. I’m stunned to see how much you’ve overcome and I’m extremely proud to have shared a podium with you. Let’s get another one for (Canada). »
Parrot claimed he held no resentment.
“He actually came to me today and apologized for his unsportsmanlike conduct,” Parrot said. I told him that I was not angry. »
McMorris declined an interview request.
The two Canadian snowboarders will meet again on Monday for the big jump qualifications. The event will be scored by the same panel of nine judges as the slopestyle event.
Parrot won Canada’s first gold medal at the Beijing Games. His triumph came after a battle with Hodgkin’s lymphoma — a cancer — which he was diagnosed with in 2018.