Max Parrot beat cancer before winning an Olympic gold medal for Canada
In December 2018, Canadian snowboarder Max Parrot was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma, a form of cancer developing near his heart and lungs.
In February 2022, Max Parrot was a cancer survivor and an Olympic gold medallist, topping the podium in the men’s slopestyle event.
GOLDEN RUN 🇨🇦🥇
Watch the run that earned Max Parrot his Olympic gold medal in men's slopestyle pic.twitter.com/D8iEZhI0PK
— CBC Olympics (@CBCOlympics) February 7, 2022
Per TSN’s Rick Westhead, Parrot underwent 12 rounds of chemotherapy to eventually be declared cancer-free.
By July 2019, Parrot announced he had overcome cancer, and by August 2019, he was back competing, winning a gold medal at the 2019 X Games in Oslo in the big air event.
GOLD medallist Max Parrot talks about why this win means so much to him 🥇🇨🇦 pic.twitter.com/uGsE6AyUo5
— CBC Olympics (@CBCOlympics) February 7, 2022
“This is actually so incredibly special,” Parrot told CBC after the winning slopestyle gold in Beijing. “It’s the biggest run I’ve ever done in my entire career. Everything was so clean; I’m just so proud of myself to take gold with that run.”
Parrot’s score of 90.96 topped the event, with Canadian Mark McMorris finishing in the bronze medal position.
An Olympic slopestyle silver medallist in 2018 at the Pyeongchang Games, Parrot entered Monday’s final as one of the clear favourites, a remarkable comeback to top form.
“A lot of things had happened, with my diagnosis with cancer, beating cancer, and then with [the COVID-19 pandemic], it was harder to train,” Parrot added. “So many challenges in the [past few years], but to be out here with the gold means so much.”
But Parrot’s chance at Olympic hardware isn’t done yet. Along with McMorris and fellow Canadian riders Darcy Sharpe and Sébastien Toutant, the four Canadian snowboarders will also be competing in the big air event, set to take place on February 14 and 15.
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