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Moffatt claims silver medal in men’s slopestyle event despite cancellation of final

Moffatt claims silver medal in men's slopestyle event despite cancellation of final

TIGNES, France – Canada’s Max Moffatt claimed a silver medal in a men’s World Cup slopestyle ski event after high winds forced the cancellation of the final Saturday.

Moffatt won the silver medal based upon his qualifying run Thursday. The Caledon, Ont., native had a score of 87.25 points to qualify for the final.

Moffatt captured his second silver of the season, claiming his first in Stubai, Austria, in November.

“Unfortunately, there was a lot of wind (Saturday) and it wasn’t safe to ski,” Moffatt said. “This wasn’t really the way I had hoped to win a medal this weekend, but it is what it is.

“Everyone would have preferred to ski, but the health and safety of the athletes was the top priority, so it was the right decision.”

Norway’s Birk Ruud won the competition with a qualifying score of 88.50 points, while Sweden’s Jesper Tjader placed third with 86.00.

Bruce Oldham of Parry Sound, Ont., was 16th, two spots ahead of Calgary’s Mark Hendrickson. Dylan Deschamps of Quebec City was 36th while Philippe Langevin of Mont-Tremblant, Que., was 41st.

The women’s qualifiers and final were both cancelled Friday and Saturday, respectively.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 12, 2022.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

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Beijing Winter Olympics live updates: Kaillie Humphries leads monobob; snow postpones slopestyle qualifying

Beijing Winter Olympics live updates: Kaillie Humphries leads monobob; snow postpones slopestyle qualifying

YANQING, China — Elana Meyers Taylor’s vision of the Beijing Olympics and the Olympics that are playing out have only a distant relationship to each other. She was sliding Saturday morning, driving her bobsled at harrowing speeds down a track here. That part fits. Little else does.

“I had this whole intention of coming here and doing this with my family,” Meyers Taylor said after her final training run at Yanqing Sliding Center. “I’ve done everything with my family. Every race, everything, it’s all been a family affair.

“And so now to have that shock of all of a sudden being at the Olympics and not being able to spend time with them, that’s something I didn’t plan for. We planned for all kinds of worst-case scenarios at the Games, but this was something that I didn’t see coming.”

The coronavirus may be abating in most parts of the world, but these are still, undeniably, the second straight Covid Olympics. Anyone in China with any affiliation with the Games realizes this. The bubble is real, and the bubble can be suffocating. Life is this: hotel, throat swab, bus, venue, bus, hotel. The Olympics as a cultural exchange is a notion from yesteryear and the future. Maybe someday. Not now.

Meyers Taylor is Team USA’s reminder of all that. These are her fourth Olympics, and she is seeking her fourth medal — her first gold. But on Jan. 29, two days after arriving in China, she tested positive for the coronavirus. So did her husband, Nic Taylor, an alternate on the American men’s bobsled team. So did her son Nico, nearly 2. So did her father, Eddie Meyers, who was permitted to make the trip to help with Nico.