Canada’s Mark McMorris is doing everything he can to stay safe ahead of the Beijing Olympics, which he says will start as planned.
McMorris will compete in a Snowboard World Cup event at Mammoth Mountain in Northern California this weekend.
Then, he intends to take things “very, very relaxed” until the start of the Beijing Games, at the beginning of February.
The 2020 Tokyo Summer Games have been delayed for a year due to the pandemic. Now, the increase in the number of infections due to the Omicron variant is once again raising the specter of a postponement of OJ.
McMorris plans to rely on room service at his Las Vegas hotel until it’s time to leave for California. Will follow training in Whistler, BC, before his flight to China.
“It’s a small price to pay for something that’s a huge goal for me [Pékin]. I’ve been waiting for this for a while, said McMorris.
“Having said that, it’s a shame that the Omicron variant appeared and is so transmissible, just before the Games. ”
McMorris will participate in big air and at slopestyle at his third Olympics.
He won bronze in slopestyle in Sochi in 2014, then achieved the same result in 2018 in PyeongChang. In the latter case, it came 11 months after a catastrophic accident while snowboarding near Whistler.
Beyond the competition in California, the native of Regina will be isolated with his team until Beijing. When it will be necessary to leave the bubble, the Canadian will be “doubly masked”.
“I just want to stay out of trouble and at least get to China,” McMorris said.
The 28-year-old has had a tough 2020-21 season, including struggles to qualify for Beijing. He missed the World Cup curtain raiser in Switzerland, when Canada’s entire team was in isolation from COVID-19.
He then contracted the virus – albeit asymptomatic – on January 26, which caused him to miss the X-Games in Aspen, Colo.
Much of his season has been shown in Chasing Winter, a four-part documentary, available on CBC Gem.
Starring McMorris and Americans Jake Caster, Brock Crouch and Hailey Langland, along with Japan’s Takeru Otsuka and Miyabi Onitsuka, it follows snowboarders trying to qualify for the Olympics.
“It was really cool to see me making my way to third Games, showing what my journey has been like for four years,” said McMorris. And also seeing all these other athletes who I think have some really great stories to tell. ”