Noah Porter MacLennan of Ottawa, Ontario won the silver medal in a World Cup men’s big air skiing event in Chur, Switzerland on Friday. It was the first World Cup men’s big air skiing event of the season. For Porter MacLennan, it was his first career World Cup medal.
Porter MacLennan had a second place score of 180 points. Birk Ruud of Norway won the gold medal with 188.75 points. Troy Podmilsak of the United States won the bronze medal with 179.75 points. Porter MacLennan reached the podium by 0.75 points over Andri Ragettli of Switzerland, who was in fourth place with a score of 179.25 points.
In the final, each skier performed three times. The best A score and B score were added to the total for the final result. Porter MacLennan had a B score of 90 points with his second jump, and an A score of 90 points with his third jump. His second A score was 7.5 points better than his first A score, when he had 82.5 points.
This was the first of four World Cup men’s big air competitions in the rest of the 2022 calendar year. The others are in Falun, Sweden on November 25, Beijing, China on December 3, and Copper Mountain, Colorado on December 16. Then, the men’s big air skiing event as part of the 2023 FIS Freestyle Skiing and Snowboarding Championships in Bakuriani, Georgia, will be on March 5. The silver medal for Porter MacLennan will give him confidence as he prepares for the 2026 Olympic Winter Games in Milan-Cortina d’Ampezzo.
