David Wise Wins Freeski Halfpipe Silver, Alex Ferreira Takes Bronze

Share

David Wise wasn’t able to pull off a historic three-peat in the men’s freestyle skiing halfpipe event, but he still made the podium.

Wise, the two-time defending Olympic champion, finished second in the halfpipe final on Friday night. He was joined on the podium by reigning silver medalist and fellow American Alex Ferreira, who earned bronze.

Reigning bronze medalist Nico Porteous from New Zealand dethroned Wise for gold amid windy conditions at Genting Snow Park.

Porteous, who claimed gold at the 2021 World Championships, is the first skier other than Wise to win the Olympic event. Wise was looking to become the first American male to win three consecutive golds in the same event at the Winter Olympics.

Among the three medalists, it was Ferreira who initially took the lead with a score of 86.75 on his first run.

Three skiers later, Wise grabbed the lead from his fellow countryman by posting a 90.75.

But Wise’s time spent in first was even shorter than Ferreira’s, as Porteous scored a 93.0 after landing back-to-back double cork 1620s.

Wise and Ferreira failed to top Porteous’ score on their final two runs, with Wise posting a 7.75 and 40.0, and Ferreira scoring an 83.75 and 67.25.

The two other Americans in the final, Birk Irving (80.0 score) and Aaron Blunck (78.25 score), finished fifth and seventh respectively. Blunck posted the best score of the qualifying round with a 92.0.

On the last run of the final, Blunck was involved in a scary crash. He stayed down initially but was able to ski down the halfpipe under his own power.

The men’s halfpipe was the final freestyle skiing event of the 2022 Winter Olympics. Team USA earned the most freeski medals with eight and was tied for the second-most golds (two) with Switzerland and Sweden. China won the most golds with four and the second-most total medals with six.

Contact Us