Canada's Brendan MacKay wins bronze in men's freeski halfpipe
Alex Ferreira of the United States wins gold, Estonia's Henry Sildaru takes silver
Canada's Brendan MacKay won the bronze medal in the men's freeski halfpipe at the Livigno Snow Park-Halfpipe on Friday.
Alex Ferreira of the United States captured gold, while Estonia's Henry Sildaru secured silver.
Canadians Andrew Longino finished in seventh place while Dylan Marineau finished 11th.
After slipping on his first two runs, MacKay put down a strong performance on his third and final run to score 91.00 points and land on the podium.
"It’s kind of hard to believe. I’ve dreamed of this happening since Sochi, since it was added to the Olympics. For it to happen is hard to believe, I’m just so incredibly proud,” MacKay said.
The 28-year-old from Calgary entered the final in first place, scoring a best run of 92.75 to top the men's qualification.
“I came into the Games and this competition season with a really good headspace. I was really trying not to put pressure on myself and I just wanted to go out there and perform to the best of my abilities and land the run I did as well as I could do it," he said.
“I had no idea if it would be enough for podium, and I was just really trying to look inwards and focus on myself.”
This is MacKay's second Olympic Games, finishing ninth in the halfpipe event at Beijing 2022. MacKay was also the 2023 FIS World Champion.
Ferreira won the gold on his third and final run with 93.75 points. The 31-year-old also earned silver in the event at Pyeongchang 2018 and bronze at Beijing 2022.
In his Olympic debut, 19-year-old Sildaru also won bronze on his third run with a best score of 93.00 points – only 0.75 points behind Ferreira in gold.
This was was Sildaru's Olympic debut.
Also making their Olympic debut at Milano Cortina 2026 were Canada's Longino and Marineau, also from Calgary.
23-year-old Longino had his best score on his first run, putting down 76.50 points, unable to improve his scores in his next two runs.
Despite soaring to a massive amplitude of 5.9-metres before slipping on the landing, Marineau struggled to put down a clean run throughout the finals competition and finished in 11th place.
Qualifying was shifted to Friday from Thursday because of heavy snowfall. The final was originally scheduled for Friday evening.
Canada had previously won four medals in freeski halfpipe since the discipline was introduced in Sochi in 2014. Cassie Sharpe, injured in a fall in Thursday's women's qualifying, has a gold and silver, while Rachel Karker - MacKay's fiancee - has a bronze.
Mike Riddle claimed silver in Sochi.
The women's final is scheduled for Saturday.
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With files from The Associated Press and The Canadian Press.
