January 25, 2014 - 4:50 PM
ASPEN, Colo. - Canadian Olympic gold-medal favourite Mark McMorris fractured a rib during a crash in the Winter X Games slopestyle finals Saturday.
McMorris caught his snowboard on the lip of a rail and went sliding down the bar on his right side before landing hard on the snow. The Regina-native stayed on the ground for a few minutes before riding down the hill under his own power.
He was treated and released from the hospital, where X-rays showed he had a fractured rib but no other damage.
"I wasn't focused," McMorris said during a brief interview at the bottom of the hill.
He finished second in the event on the strength of an earlier run.
Another Canadian, Max Parrot of Bromont, Que., turned in the winning score (96.33) on his final run, which forced McMorris (95.66) to push harder in his last run to go for the win.
News from © The Associated Press, 2014