Quebec snowboarder Maxence Parrot won his second medal at the Beijing Olympics early Monday morning, winning bronze in the Big Air event, in snowboarding, he who had won gold in slopestyle a few days earlier. .
The 27-year-old athlete had the opportunity to start last, having finished first in qualifying. However, he got off to a bad start in his final, falling on his first try, attempting a “Cab triple cork 1800 indy”.
The Cowansville native therefore had no room for error on his second and third jumps, since the two best scores are combined to determine the total score.
Parrot shrugged off the pressure and attempted the same maneuver on his second attempt. This time, he not only did it, but he was rewarded by the judges with a score of 94.00 points.
He was therefore the third to make his jump during the third run, since he was in 10th place at that time. Landing a “Frontside triple cork 1620” cleanly, he added 76.25 points to his previous score, for a total of 170.25 points, giving him second place at the time.
Parrot was eventually surpassed by the penultimate athlete to perform, Norway’s Mons Roisland, who beat him with a cumulative 171.75.
However, it was the local favourite, the Chinese Su Yiming, winner of the slopestyle silver, who completely dominated the Big Air event. The 17-year-old completed tricks that earned him 89.50 and 93.00 points on his first and second runs, respectively.
First after two races, he was therefore the last to start on the third try. Already assured of gold, he was able to make a victorious run under the encouragement of the crowd.
The two other maple leaf representatives in the running, Mark McMorris and Darcy Sharpe, finished 10th and 12th respectively. McMorris compiled a score of 113.75, while Sharpe finished the competition with 87.75 points. The Quebecer Sébastien Toutant did not take part in the competition, he who had been eliminated at the end of the qualifications.
