Canada’s Brendan Mackay saved his best run for last en route to winning the gold medal in the men’s ski halfpipe World Cup on Thursday, leading a group of three Canadians to win medals in Calgary.
The Calgary native scored 92.60 on his first run, 95.20 on the second and 97.00 on the final one, which was the best run in the entire competition.
Mackay, 24, finished ahead of American Alex Ferreira whose best run was at 94.80, while fellow Canadian Simon d’Artois came a very close third place with 94.40 as his best score.
Canada’s Noah Bowman finished fourth with a top score of 90.20.
WATCH | Brendan Mackay wins World Cup gold in hometown:
d’Artois improved on every run just as Mackay, scoring 84.40 on his first run, 88.40 on his second, and had his best run on his final one.
WATCH | d’Artois claims bronze in ski halfpipe World Cup:
On the women’s side, Canadian Rachael Karker continued her run of podium finishes, taking bronze in the women’s event.
Karker, of Erin, Ont., again improved on all three of her runs. The 24-year-old scored 87.80 on her first run, 88.40 on the second, and 90.20 on third and final one.
WATCH | Karker secures bronze medal in women’s ski halfpipe World Cup:
She finished just behind American Hanna Faulhaber who placed second with a top score of 92.80, and the winner, China’s Gu Ailing Eileen who topped the board at 96.80 to add to her medal haul. Gu won gold in a previous World Cup event just weeks back.
Canada’s Cassie Sharpe, the Olympic champion in the event, placed seventh with a high score of 25.40.
Sharpe returned to competition earlier in December for the first time since suffering a pair of knee injuries and a fractured femur following a fall at the Winter X Games in January.
WATCH | China’s Gu soars to victory in ski halfpipe World Cup: