Canada's Mark McMorris cleared to compete in his best Olympic event
It looks like Mark McMorris’ 2026 Olympic dream isn’t over, after all.
The Canadian phenom was injured last week while training for the big air event. It was revealed shortly afterward that he’d suffered a concussion, bone bruising near his pelvis, and an abdominal strain. As a result, he was forced to drop out of big air qualifying.
“I just wanted to update you guys that I took a fall last night,” McMoriss revealed the following day on Instagram. “I hit my head, and I will not be able to compete in big air tonight, unfortunately. But fortunately, things are looking up for slopestyle, so just trying to stay positive and shift my focus to that event.”
His prediction of things looking up for slopestyle was correct, as it was confirmed on Friday that the 32-year-old will indeed be competing in the event.
āFeeling really good, feeling thankful to be boarding again. Had a lot of fun today,ā McMorris said, per the COC. āItās awesome that we have so many days of practice.”
Slopstyle is widely regarded as McMorris’s best event. He’s picked up three bronze medals in the past three Olympics, all of which came in slopestyle. He also competed in big air in PyeongChang 2018 and Beijing 2022, finishing 10th on both occasions.
Slopestyle qualifying will be this coming Monday, while the final is on Wednesday. Based on McMorris’ track record, it wouldn’t be a surprise whatsoever to see him add to Canada’s medal count. He will also have the opportunity to compete for what would be his first gold at an Olympic event.
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