LIVIGNO, Italy — Canada’s three-time Olympic bronze medal snowboarder Mark McMorris experienced a crash Wednesday night while training for the big air event at the Milan Cortina Games and was removed from the course on a stretcher.
McMorris, 32, who is making his fourth Olympic appearance, was preparing for Thursday night’s qualifying event, scheduled to take place roughly 24 hours ahead of the opening ceremony.
There has been no official update regarding McMorris’ condition.
In big air competitions, athletes execute four, five, or more spins after launching from a ramp that, in Livigno, exceeds 50 meters (165 feet) in height and is constructed from scaffolding.
McMorris has secured all of his Olympic medals and eight out of his twelve X Games titles in slopestyle; the remaining four X gold medals were achieved in big air, which was included in the Olympic program in 2018.
He faced life-threatening injuries after crashing into a tree during a backcountry ride in 2017. As a result of that and various other injuries sustained over the years, he has undergone numerous surgeries, including the insertion of a rod in his leg, a plate in his arm, and another in his jaw.
