On February 7, 2019, Maxence Parrot was bedridden, battling Hodgkin’s lymphoma. Three years later to the day, the snowboarder from Bromont won the slopestyle gold medal at the Beijing Games on Monday, Canada’s first at these Olympics.
“I had to do 12 chemotherapy treatments in six months. I had no more cardio, muscles, energy. It was my worst nightmare, he recalled at the bottom of the Genting Snow Park slope in Zhangjiakou. To be here, three years later, at the Olympics for a third time, on the podium for a second time, with a gold medal for the first time, that means a lot.
“It’s proof that anything in life is possible. Since my cancer, I haven’t taken a day off. I worked so hard. To see the fruit of it all today means so much to me. »
Parrot, silver medalist in Pyeongchang, was accompanied on the podium by her compatriot Mark McMorris, winner of a bronze medal for the third Olympic Games in a row. 17-year-old Chinese Yiming Su slotted in between to win the silver.
“I’m really proud of myself. Proud of my descent, added Parrot. I have never done such a good downhill in my entire career, as difficult as that and as perfect. Of the six modules, five were really demanding for me. I didn’t go with an easy descent at all. It could have gone wrong on each module and I managed to get them perfectly. To land that downhill and win the gold means a lot to me.
“After the last Games, where I won silver, I told everyone that I wanted gold, that was what was missing in my career. I still put a lot of pressure on myself with that. To be able to deliver this descent today, it’s a big: ‘Yes!’.”
Parrot says he never thought he could return to a normal life when he started his chemo treatments.
“I never thought (that I couldn’t live the life I live anymore), because I never wanted to give cancer a chance. For me, that was not an option. It is certain that during my treatments, it was sometimes hard to make it to the next day, so it is clear that I was not thinking of the Olympics at all! What kept me motivated was my dream of getting back on my board, rediscovering my passion. »
Qualified for the Games last year, Parrot took a slightly crazy gamble by not taking part in any competition this season.
“My strategy might not have worked. In life, you don’t always have to go with what everyone else does. Every year, I do 10 to 15 competitions. You don’t have time to learn new things with so many competitions, you always have to be in the performance. Having been lucky enough to qualify at the start of 2021, I didn’t have to do any competition. It gave me the opportunity to train more, that’s what I decided to do. The Olympic gold medal is all I needed and I went all out. I think we have proof that it worked well. »
The 27-year-old snowboarder was in third place after the first run. It was with his second lap, spectacular from start to finish, that he obtained 90.96 points, the highest score of the two days of competition.
“It was the same descent, but I cleaned up all the little technical errors,” he explained at a press conference.
He did not try to improve his lot in the third round.
It was also with his second run that Su climbed to second place, with 88.70 points, to the delight of the few spectators and many Chinese journalists on site.
McMorris gave everything in his third run, but his 88.53 points did not allow him to change the color of his medals acquired at the last two Olympics.
“I thought it was going to propel me to first or second place, but the judges decided otherwise, said the Saskatchewanian. I think our runs were similar, but I want to review them before I say more. »
All disappointed
Third Canadian in the final, Sébastien Toutant struggled in his three runs and was unable to do better than ninth place, earned with 54.00 points on the last lap.
This descent was very promising and if he had been able to land his last jump, he could have joined his two teammates on the podium.
“We’ll never know, but the scores I saw for the modules, it lined up for a good score,” said the silver medalist of the last Worlds, smiling despite everything.
“I’m definitely disappointed with my performance. It seems that every Olympics, something happens that I’m not able to complete a run in the final. These are things that happen. Snowboard competitions, the level is so high that you go there for the biggest descent possible. Sometimes it works; sometimes not. […] But that’s okay, I still love snowboarding! »
The American Redmond Gerard, gold medalist at the Pyeongchang Games in 2018, finished at the foot of the podium. His first run put him in the lead, but he was unable to beat that result.
This whole group will now turn its attention to the big jump, disputed on February 14 and 15 at the Shougang ski jump, in the suburbs of Beijing. Toutant is the reigning Olympic champion.