Less than a year after he was in a Vancouver hospital recovering from a disastrous snowboarding accident, Mark McMorris won a bronze medal at the PyeongChang Olympics on Saturday.
Last March, McMorris suffered a fractured jaw, fractured left arm, ruptured spleen, stable pelvic fracture, rib fractures and a collapsed left lung while filming snowboarding scenes with his brother Craig in Whistler’s backcountry.
“Will I snowboard again?” was one of the first questions he wrote on piece of paper, his jaw wired shut, after coming out of his coma.
McMorris earned the bronze in the judged men’s slopestyle competition while Canadian teammate Max Parrot, who is also based in Whistler, captured the silver. They were Team Canada’s first medal in the 2018 Winter Olympics. It was Parrot’s first Olympic medal and McMorris’ second bronze. American Red Gerard won the gold.
"It's been some low times, but these high times make it worthwhile," the 24-year-old Whistler resident told CBC. "I'm glad I pulled through that last injury to be here because this is pretty special."
From his hospital bed to the months of training later, McMorris was determined to compete in the PyeongChang games. He was in Vancouver General Hospital for 10 days following several surgeries and on a liquid diet for six weeks. He showed the same determination to push through the pain as he did four years ago when he won a bronze Olympic medal in Sochi having broken his ribs two weeks earlier.
"Not being able to move, really, being super uncomfortable, not being able to really talk or anything like that," McMorris said of his lowest point in an interview with SportsNet. "That sucked, because it’s just from one stupid mistake, and I wish I could take it back every day of my life. But I don’t know. Maybe it made me a better person, or stronger. Maybe it helps people get through things, too.”
McMorris is one of seven competitors based in Whistler, joining teammates Max Parrot, Tyler Nicholson, Sebastien Toutant, Spencer O'Brien, Brooke Voigt and Laurie Blouin.
Before heading to South Korea, McMorris told Pique magazine in Whistler that "It's coming really quick and I'm feeling really good about it. I think I'm just really lucky to have a good team, a young body and determination to get back to snowboarding. I feel really good with my comeback and I'm confident and ready to roll."
After recovering and going through rehab, McMorris returned to snow in September testing things out. While he wasn't 100 per cent at the time, the 24-year-old certainly appreciated where he was.
"I realized I was good to compete by late October and then I went to China and it's been working out," he said. "It was pretty crazy in the sense that my body maybe had to do a few more weeks in the gym.
"I had to do a commercial thing in New Zealand, so just getting to ride around, even just taking it super easy was pretty spectacular after thinking back to where I was.
"It was a little bit scary. There was definitely a mental recovery, too."
On Sunday, McMorris was interviewed by CBC’s Scott Russell. Russell mentions that in an accompanying CBC documentary McMorris calls his devotion to “ a weird addiction.”
Russell asks him why. “When it comes down to this life and everything, I don’t have anything in this life that bring me such joy of being on the mountain with my friends or pushing my limits and learning new tricks. Or landing a run when the country is watching you,” McMorris says. “That sort of feeling, I can’t find it anywhere else. It is addicting.”
He’s also buoyed and motivated by the people who find his determination inspiring.
“That’s the stuff that makes me push to keep going. That’s the stuff that makes my wheels turn.”
McMorris will compete in the new-to-the-Olympics big air event on Feb. 23 and 24. The tricks will be jaw-dropping and fun to watch, McMorris told Russell. “They push the limits of what the human body can do. It’s going to be an awesome début in Pyeongchang for sure.”
With files from Pique magazine.
