Megan Oldham wrapped up the slopestyle event in Bakuriani as runner-up world champion! On Tuesday, the Canadian earned the best World Championships result of her career in freestyle skiing.
The qualifying rounds had been postponed twice in the last few days, forcing the skiers to be patient before hitting the slopes in Georgia. They finally got the green light on Monday, and Oldham took third place in the qualifiers with a score of 79.65. She was 4.20 points away from second place, and 6.90 points away from first.
However, the Ontarian was not quite done, and things really heated up 24 hours later, in the big final. Oldham, who was third in the provisional standings after her first run with a score of 80.88, set her sights on Mathilde Gremaud of Switzerland, who scored 87.95 in her initial attempt.
The athlete from Parry Sound came close to matching her opponent, scoring 87.75 on her second and final descent of the day. Although she was still 0.20 points short of first place, she nevertheless outdid bronze medallist Johanne Killi of Norway, who finished third with 84.71 points.
“It’s amazing to be here at the World Championships, to have skied well and to be going home with the silver medal!” said Oldham, following her performance. “It was a difficult week because of the weather, so I’m really happy with my result! It was very windy, so I tried to stay focused during training and work on the things I could control. Luckily, it’s nice out today, and I was able to pull it all together and put down a good run.”
At her first World Championships in 2021, the new runner-up world champion had finished third in slopestyle. On Tuesday, she was the only Canadian woman in action.
In the men’s competition, Max Moffatt (Caledon, ON) finished the day at the foot of the podium, with a score of 82.80.
He was sitting in third place until Norway’s Birk Ruud scored 90.75 on his run to the gold medal. Ruud’s countrymate Christian Nummedal (87.08) and Switzerland’s Andri Ragettli (84.33) nabbed silver and bronze, respectively.
For Moffatt, it was the best World Championships result of his career. In 2021, he had finished eleventh in slopestyle.
Also in action in Bakuriani were Evan McEachran (Oakville, ON) and Noah Porter MacLennan (Ottawa, ON), who also advanced to the final. With their respective scores of 81.28 and 71.86, the two Canadians came out of the event seventh and tenth overall.
The skiers will be back on the slopes on Friday for the Big Air qualifiers.
“I’m really looking forward to it! I’m going to try to keep my momentum going and stay just as motivated,” concluded Oldham.
On Thursday, the halfpipe events will begin at the World Championships. Amy Fraser(Calgary, AB), Dillan Glennie (Courtenay, BC) and Rachael Karker (Erin, ON) will participate in the women’s qualification rounds, while Simon d’Artois (Whistler, BC), Andrew Longino (Calgary, AB), Brendan Mackay (Calgary, AB) and Dylan Marineau(Calgary, AB) will take part in the men’s.
