Second-place finisher Mark McMorris, of Canada, celebrates on the podium following the men's slopestyle snowboard world championship Sunday, Feb. 10, 2019, in Park City, Utah. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)
February 10, 2019 - 12:22 PM
PARK CITY, Utah - Canadian snowboard star Mark McMorris won the silver medal in slopestyle at the freestyle world championships without competing in Sunday's final.
Organizers of the event said on Twitter that the slopestyle final was cancelled "due to unsafe wind conditions." Medals were handed out based on competitors' qualifying scores instead.
McMorris earned the silver with his second-place qualifying run from Saturday.
"When taking the decision to cancel, it's not only safety that is taken into account, it's fairness," read the statement on the freestyle world championship's Twitter page. "The winds are gusting across the course, and forecast not to diminish this afternoon, which means each athlete might face different conditions on their runs."
Chris Corning of the United States took gold with a 93.25-point qualifying score, 0.25 better than McMorris' run. American Judd Henkins earned bronze with 90.50.
The medal is McMorris' second at a world championship. He also took silver in 2013.
McMorris has two Olympic bronze medals in slopestyle and is a 11-time X Games medallist in that discipline. He also has seven X Games medals in big air.
News from © The Canadian Press, 2019