In one of the most inspirational stories from the first few days of the Winter Games, Canadian snowboarder Mark McMorris has won a bronze medal less than 11 months after suffering life-threatening injuries.
On March 25, 2017, McMorris crashed his snowboard into a tree in the British Columbia backcountry. In an Instagram post following the crash, McMorris said: “To be honest, I was pretty sure I was going to die."
Not even 11 months later, McMorris spun, flipped and grinded his way to a bronze medal in the slopestyle event at the Games in Pyeongchang. He also won bronze at the same event in Sochi four years ago.
In an interview with CTV News’ Genevieve Beauchemin, McMorris talked about his road to recovery, how the accident changed his snowboarding style and the support he’s received from his fellow Canadians.
“Canada definitely had my back 100 per cent and I felt that,” McMorris said. “It was definitely motivating and it gave me a little extra boost and energy to do my very best and it feels really good when you end up doing well.”
“I’m feeling really honoured to be on the podium again.”
McMorris said after returning from injury, he wasn’t sure he could contend in snowboarding events anymore. But he won his first competition back--a World Cup event in China.
He said even though his physical wounds healed quickly, he is still working on healing some of the mental wounds that come with such an injury.
“Stuff’s a little bit scarier than it used to be for me, but today I wasn’t really scared,” he said.
McMorris finished third behind American Redmond Gerard and Canadian Max Parrot. He said seeing the 17-year-old American in the gold medal position came as a surprise.
“It’s seems to be that way at the Olympics, just out of nowhere, an American wins. What the hell?” he said jokingly.
For the second consecutive Winter Games, McMorris is receiving the first of Canada’s medal haul -- an accomplishment he said is “pretty special.”
“In an ever so progressive sport it isn’t easy to stay on those podiums,” he said. “It’s a changing field all the time, so I just feel really lucky to stay in there.”
McMorris is also competing in the men’s Big Air competition, which begins Feb. 21. He plans to celebrate the bronze in Pyeongchang for a night or two and then head to Seoul for a few days before coming back to prepare.
