Evan McEachran secured a bronze medal at the World Cup freestyle skiing slopestyle event held in Laax, Switzerland over the weekend. The athlete from Oakville, Ontario, initially placed fifth after his first run but delivered an outstanding performance in the second round, earning a high score of 82.70 points and landing on the podium.
The gold medal was claimed by Norway’s Birk Ruud with a score of 85.08, while Austria’s Matej Svancer took the silver medal with a score of 84.08.
This achievement adds to McEachran’s successes as he prepares for his third appearance at the upcoming Milan Cortina Games, having represented Canada in the 2018 and 2022 Olympics. The men’s slopestyle competition is scheduled to take place from February 7 to February 10 in Livigno, Italy.
In the women’s category, Eileen Gu from China secured the gold medal with a score of 85.13. Maarin Hamill from the United States and Lara Wolf from Austria claimed the silver and bronze medals, respectively.
Notably, Elena Gaskell from Vernon, British Columbia, was the highest-ranking Canadian in the competition, finishing fifth with a top score of 62.75.
In the women’s halfpipe event held later in Laax on Saturday, Canadian snowboarder Elizabeth Hosking, hailing from Longueuil, Quebec, finished in sixth place. Despite an impressive initial performance putting her in fourth place, she faced a fall towards the end of her second run.
The gold medal in the women’s halfpipe event was won by South Korea’s Gaon Choi, with Rise Kudo from Japan securing silver and Cai Xuetong from China earning the bronze medal.