Wise & shine!
American skiers fly to take top two spots on podium
PYEONGCHANG, South Korea — At least the Americans have the Phoenix Snow Park halfpipe.
Freestyle skier David Wise successfully defended his gold medal Thursday, breaking through on his final run to give the U.S. its third gold medal in the halfpipe at the Pyeongchang Olympics.
Wise wiped out on each of his first two runs when his skis popped off his feet. After swapping out his skis and cranking up the bindings for his final try, he sneaked past countryman Alex Ferreira with a score of 97.20.
It was a dream run for Wise, who landed double corks in all four directions — front left, front right, switch (backward) left and switch right.
“Putting all four of them into a run is certainly the most challenging thing I’ve ever done,” he said.
It was the fifth U.S. gold medal at Phoenix Snow Park, including those from snowboarders Chloe Kim, Shaun White, Red Gerard and Jamie Anderson.
Ferreira took silver, and 16year-old Nico Porteous from New Zealand got bronze. It was the second medal of the day for the Kiwis after snowboarder Zoi Sadowski Synnott won bronze in Big Air to end New Zealand’s 26-year Winter Games drought.
Porteous was so nervous before the competition that he vomited three times, and yet on his second run, he pushed past Ferreira for the top spot, shocking even himself by landing five double corks and getting a score of 94.80. His jaw dropped and he pumped his arms when it was announced. Porteous didn’t even bother trying on the third run.
“I had nothing left,” Porteous said. “That was me. That was all I had left in the bag. I hope people didn’t see that as me being cocky because I really had nothing left. That was the best run I’ve ever done in my life.”
Ferreira stormed past Porteous on his second run. The 23year-old American spun his right ski pole over his head at the bottom of the halfpipe, then threw up his hands when the judges gave him a 96.00.
Wise put down his doublecork dream run a few minutes later, and Ferreira could only counter with a 96.40.
It was a clutch show for Wise, who was on track to knock out all four double corks in each of his first two runs before binding issues left him sprawled in the snow.
“For Run 3, we cranked my bindings up as high as they go,” he said. “We’re like, ‘You know what, my leg’s coming off before the ski does.’ ” —