Evan McEachran secured a bronze medal at the World Cup freestyle skiing slopestyle event held in Laax, Switzerland. Following his initial run, where he was in fifth place, the Oakville, Ont., native delivered an impressive second-round performance, earning 82.70 points and moving up to claim a spot on the podium. Birk Ruud from Norway clinched the gold medal with a score of 85.08, while Matej Svancer of Austria took home the silver medal with 84.08 points.
McEachran, aged 28, will be participating in his third Olympics at the upcoming Milan Cortina Games, having previously represented Canada in 2018 and 2022. The men’s slopestyle competition is scheduled to take place from Feb. 7 to Feb. 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, with scores of 71.38 and 67.85. The highest-ranking Canadian woman was Elena Gaskell from Vernon, B.C., who finished in fifth place with a top score of 62.75.
In the women’s halfpipe event in Laax, Canadian snowboarder Elizabeth Hosking, hailing from Longueuil, Que., finished in sixth place. Despite holding the fourth position after the initial run, she encountered a fall towards the end of her second run. Gaon Choi from South Korea secured the gold medal, Rise Kudo from Japan took silver, and Cai Xuetong from China earned the bronze medal.