Whistler (February 12, 2018): Eleven months ago Mark McMorris lay waiting for a rescue helicopter in the backcountry near Whistler, British Columbia, with a fractured jaw, a ruptured spleen, internal bleeding, multiple broken bones and a collapsed lung.
“I was pretty sure I was going to die,” recalled the Canadian snowboarder, who had mistimed a jump and struck a tree in mid-airBut on Sunday, a beaming McMorris stood proudly on the Olympic podium after winning the bronze medal in men’s snowboard slopestyle.
Look at that hardware. @MaxParrot and @markmcmorris just got their men’s #snowboard slopestyle medals at #PyeongChang2018.
More on #TeamCanada‘s double podium: https://t.co/KiLixWd9o6 pic.twitter.com/jt6CYFvRyk
— Team Canada (@TeamCanada) February 11, 2018
The Regina native had an impressive showing in the event, in which snowboarders must navigate a course filled with rails and jumps.
He was leading the pack until the third and final run, when Team USA’s Red Gerard pulled off a shocking upset to win gold.
Not only did McMorris beat the odds and return to competition after life-threatening injuries, but he and teammate Max Parrot earned Team Canada its first medals of the PyeongChang games.
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