Parry Sound resident Megan Oldham narrowly missed the Olympic podium on Monday, placing fourth in the women’s freeski big air event.
The event, which is new to the Olympics, has skiers launch off a ramp to perform tricks that are scored based on the number of rotations, flips and grabs. Just like the event itself, Oldham is making her Olympic debut this year. She led the pack heading into finals after placing first in the qualifying rounds. She ended the event with a score of 178, trailing 4.5 points behind Swiss bronze medalist Mathilde Gremaud. Competitor Eileen Gu took gold for China while France’s Tess Ledeux took silver.
Oldham will have another chance to add to Canada’s medal count by competing in the women’s freeski slopestyle event this weekend. The qualifying runs begin this Saturday at 9 p.m. EST with finals starting at 8:30 p.m. the next day.
Local residents and businesses have shared their support for Oldham through signs, social media and more, and she isn’t the only Parry Sound-Muskoka athlete in Beijing.
Fellow Parry Sound olympian Graham Ritchie competed in the men’s individual sprint free cross-country skiing event. He placed 34th in the qualifying rounds, missing out on the top 30 slots that advanced to the quarter finals by less than a second.
Gravenhurst snowboarder Liam Brearley is also in China, attending as an alternate for the snowboard slopestyle event. Though he didn’t compete, he was able to practice alongside fellow Canadian athletes Max Parrot and Mark McMorris, who won gold and bronze respectively in the event this past weekend.
Another Parry Sound athlete, wheelchair curler Mark Ideson, will be competing in the Paralympic Winter Games, which take place from March 4 to 13.
? What an Olympic debut for Megan Oldham & Olivia Asselin! ⛷
In the women’s freeski big air final, Oldham put down two solid jumps, earning a score of 178 points for 4th place. ?
➕ Asselin finished 8th with 147.50 points, saving her best for her final run (85.50). ? pic.twitter.com/dCnMtbYDzP
— Team Canada (@TeamCanada) February 8, 2022
