Talk about a dramatic finish.
Canada’s Brendan Mackay won bronze in the Olympic men’s freeski halfpipe on the final run of the competition on Friday.
Mackay, 28, struggled badly on his first two runs before nailing his third for a score of 91.00 points.
That was two points better than American Nick Goepper, who had a scary crash on his final run.
“On that last run, I kind of maybe learned from my mistakes in the first two runs and really tried to focus on my skiing, and somehow it came together,” Mackay told CBC Olympics.
It is the 17th medal for Canada at Milano Cortina 2026 (four gold, five silver and eight bronze).
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Mackay won the 2023 world championship in halfpipe before finishing seventh at last year’s worlds.
He didn’t have a medal in four World Cup events this season, but finished first in qualifying at the Olympics on Friday.
Alex Ferreira of the U.S. won gold on Friday after taking Olympic silver in 2018 and bronze in 2022.
Estonia’s Henry Sildaru captured silver.
Mackay’s fiancée, Rachael Karker, won a bronze for Canada in the women’s halfpipe in the 2022 Olympics. She’ll compete in the Milano Cortina 2026 women’s final on Saturday.
“Now we have a matching set, which is pretty cool,” Mackay said. “It’s a dream come true.”
Two other Calgarians qualified for the 12-man final — Andrew Longino finished 10th, while Dylan Marineau placed 11th.
