Noah Porter Maclennan kicked off the new season in fine style, giving the best performance of his career at the Big Air World Cup in Chur, Switzerland, on Friday. The athlete from Ottawa captured the silver medal at only his second-ever Big Air World Cup competition.
“I wasn’t expecting that. It’s a really nice surprise!” said the Canadian, following the competition.
Porter Maclennan performed consistently on all three of his jumps, chalking up scores of 82.50, 90.00 and 90.00 points and earning a final score of 180.00, as only the top two scores are counted.
Norway’s Birk Ruud, the reigning Olympic champion in the discipline, led the field with 188.75 points. Ruud held first place in the provisional standings after the first two rounds. Troy Podmilsak of the USA finished third, with 179.75 points.
Porter Maclennan held the third-place position after the first two rounds, but climbed to second after executing a perfect left double 1800 stalefish on his final descent.
“Although I landed my first jump, it wasn’t perfect,” explained the 19-year-old. “But I landed my final one and it was unreal! The spectators on the sidelines were all cheering for me, so I was excited to see my score. I thought [I might have a chance at the podium] because I knew the jump was worth a lot of points. I’m really happy with my result!”
The date of October 21 will forever be engraved in the memory of Porter Maclennan, who plans to keep pushing for victory in his future competitions.
“What I have to do now is keep up my momentum [for the rest of the season] and stay focused,” he concluded.
Other Canadian Results
25- Dylan Deschamps (Quebec City, Quebec, 75.00)
29- Max Moffatt (Caledon, Ontario, 71.00)
38- Alexander Henderson (Apex, British Columbia, 42.50)
Olivia Asselin in contention for first two rounds
In the women’s competition, Olivia Asselin (Lévis, Quebec) finished fourth, with 107.75 points. The Beijing Olympian was second in the provisional standings after her first jump, thanks to an excellent score of 89.25. However, she slid into third place after her second jump, and wasn’t able to maintain her podium position with her third.
Olympic silver medallist Tess Ledeux of France took top honours with 181.00 points, ahead of Norway’s Sandra Eie (170.75) and Switzerland’s Mathilde Gremaud (170.00).
The other Canadian to make the finals was Megan Oldham of Parry Sound, Ontario. Although she held the seventh-place spot with one run to go, Oldham missed her third and final jump and finished eighth.
Brynn Johnston (Comox, British Columbia) and Rylee Hackler (Calgary, Alberta) did not qualify for the finals. They finished 10th and 14th, respectively.
