Canadian Olympic Team member Mark McMorris—a favorite to take the first-ever snowboard slopestyle gold medal at the Winter Games in Sochi, Russia, next month over contest machine Shaun White—has fractured a rib on his right side, ESPN reports. McMorris, 20, took a tough spill off a rail on the last of three runs in the Men’s Snowboard Slopestyle final Saturday afternoon, grazing his edge at the top of the feature and catching his weight on his side near its bottom.
Speaking to ESPN’s Alyssa Roenigk at the bottom of the course, which he rode down to on his own, McMorris expressed some concern over the slam, but remained positive. “I’m sore. I just pray to God I’m OK and it’s nothing serious,” he said. “It’s too bad. I must have lost train of thought of what I was doing. I wasn’t in focus.”
Mark McMorris during the Men’s Snowboard Slopestyle final at X Games Aspen Saturday, before crashing hard on his final run and fracturing a rib. Photo by Tomas Zuccareno/ESPN Images
McMorris was taken to a nearby medical facility for off-hill evaluation, and, according to a statement issued by sponsor Red Bull, he sustained no other injuries and was released. No further official statements have been given regarding any change in McMorris’ plans to represent his country in Sochi, but he tweeted reassurance to his fans Saturday evening: “Thank you all for the kind words!!!! I ended up breaking a rib today but will be continuing my journey to Sochi for #teamcanada”
McMorris is widely regarded as perhaps the only rider truly capable of unseating Shaun White for a gold medal during slopestyle’s Olympic debut. If there’s any bright spot in Saturday’s story, it’s that his crash occurred after he had already thrown down two impressive runs; McMorris came in second to Canadian Olympic teammate Max Parrot—himself putting on a terrific show in Aspen—and took a seventh X Games medal as consolation.
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