LIVIGNO – Canadian snowboarder Mark McMorris, bouncing back from a nasty crash in big air training, qualified in style Sunday for the slopestyle final at the Milan Cortina Olympics.

The men’s qualifying featured 30 riders with the top 12 advancing to the final. They were scored on the best of their two runs.

McMorris delivered two quality efforts, with his first score of 81.81 good enough for third place after the two runs.

The 32-year-old from Regina was cleared to compete Thursday after his Feb. 4 big air crash left him with a concussion, pelvic bone bruising and stained abdominal muscles. He won bronze medals in each of his three previous trips to the games.

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Cameron Spalding, a 20-year-old from Havelock, Ont., also advanced to the final, qualifying fifth with a second-run score of 78.76 after falling on his first run.

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New Zealand’s Dane Menzies topped qualifying at 86.06. Born in Calgary to a Canadian mother and New Zealand father, he grew up in Canmore, Alta., training at Calgary’s Canada Olympic Park, but is now based out of Wānaka, New Zealand.

Norway’s Marcus Kleveland, who overtook McMorris with his second round, qualified second at 81.86.

There was heartbreak for Canadian Eli Bouchard, an 18-year-old from Lac-Beauport, Que., whose second run score of 69.51 briefly put him into 12th place. He finished 13th, just 12 one-hundredths of a point out of a place in the final.

Francis Jobin, a 27-year-old from Lac-Beauport who was competing with a shoulder brace after dislocating his shoulder in his final training run before the big air competition, fell twice and finished 29th at 17.80

Qualifying was shifted to Sunday from Monday because of the threat of poor weather. The women’s medals will be decided Tuesday and the men’s Wednesday.

The 650-metre slopestyle course at Livigno Snow Park, which featured a vertical drop of 165 metres, features rail and jumps with riders judged on the breadth, originality, and quality of their tricks.

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This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 15, 2025

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