BEIJING, China — US skier David Wise won the silver medal, and Alex Ferreira from Colorado won the bronze medal in a freeski halfpipe final that was filled with crashes due to the gusty conditions in Beijing.
Nico Porteous from New Zealand won gold with a score of 93. Wise scored 90.75 and Ferreira scored 86.75.
Each skier gets three runs in the event, and only the best score counts.
Fellow Coloradoans and US Teammates Birk Irving and Aaron Blunck placed fifth and seventh, respectively.
Wind was gusting in Beijing during the final. Several athletes to mentioned the tough conditions and many fell during one or more of their runs. NBC announcers said the wind made it difficult for the athletes to keep up their speed as they continued down the halfpipe.
The conditions appeared to worsen as the event went on with many of the top qualifiers crashing on their final runs. It ended in a scary moment when Blunck crashed hard attempting a trick on the last run of the final. He ended up skiing off under his own power.
All three skiers from Colorado qualified for the halfpipe final.
Blunck earned the top spot in qualifying by scoring a 92, Iriving finished third with an 89.75, and Ferreira got 84.25, which was good enough for seventh. Fellow American teammate Wise finished just behind Irving in fourth with an 89.
Ferreira, 27, from Aspen, is defending a silver medal he earned in the same event at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang.
Blunck, 25, is from Crested Butte. The three-time Olympian made his debut at the 2014 games in Sochi. He took gold in the halfpipe at the 2017 world championships.
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Irving, 22, from Winter Park is competing in his first Olympics. He placed third in the halfpipe at the 2021 world championships.
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