Canadian Olympic silver medalist Maxence Parrot of Cowansville, Quebec won the gold medal in the men’s big air snowboarding competition at the 2019 X Games Norway on Saturday. The X Games Norway is unique because it contains winter and summer sports.
This was Parrot’s first significant victory since returning from cancer. He was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma (same disease that Canadian Olympic gold medalist Mario Lemieux of Montreal, Quebec was faced with) in December and announced he was cancer free in July after six months of chemotherapy.
In Oslo on Saturday, Parrot had a winning score of 91 points. Sven Thorgren of Sweden won the silver medal with 88.33 points. Yuki Kadono of Japan won the bronze medal with 84.66 points. Parrot reached the podium by 11.66 points over Chris Corning of the United States, who was in fourth place with 79.33 points.
The silver medal for Parrot was one of two Canadian medals at the X Games Norway. The other went to Canadian Olympic bronze medalist Alex Beaulieu-Marchand of Quebec City, Quebec in men’s big air skiing.
Beaulieu-Marchand won the bronze medal in Oslo with a score of 79.66 points. Alex Hall of the United States won the gold medal with 88.66 points. Henrik Harlaut of Sweden won the silver medal with a score of 83 points. Beaulieu-Marchand reached the podium with 79.66 points, which was 20 points better than Birk Ruud of Norway, who was in fourth place with 59.66 points.
Parrot won the silver medal in men’s slopestyle snowboarding at the 2018 Olympic Winter Games in Pyeongchang. Beaulieu-Marchand won the bronze medal in men’s slopestyle skiing at the 2018 Olympic Winter Games in Pyeongchang. Mario Lemieux won the gold medal in men’s hockey at the 2002 Olympic Winter Games in Salt Lake City.The medals for Parrot and Beaulieu-Marchand will boost their confidence as they prepare for the 2022 Olympic Winter Games in Beijing.
