Ottawa freestyle skier shines in silver showing in Switzerland

CHUR, Switzerland – Freestyle skier Noah Porter MacLennan of Ottawa collected a silver medal at the Big Air World Cup on Friday, opening the new season with the best performance of his career.

“I really wasn’t expecting this,” beamed the Canadian. “It’s a really nice surprise.”

MacLennan was consistent with all three of his jumps, registering scores of 82.50, 90.00 and 90.00, for a full score of 180.00 as only the two best jumps count.

Birk Ruud of Norway, the reigning Olympic champion in the discipline, won gold with a score of 188.75. Troy Podmilsak of the United States finished third with 179.75 points.

The 19-year-old MacLennan was thrilled to end up on the podium, even though he knew his first jump wasn’t ideal.

“I landed my final one and it was unreal. The spectators on the sidelines were all cheering for me, so I was excited to see my score. I’m really happy with my result.

” … What I have to do now is keep up my momentum and stay focused.”

Dylan Deschamps of Quebec City finished 25th, Max Moffatt of Caledon, Ont., was 29th and Alexander Henderson of Apex, B.C., finished 38th.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 21, 2022.