Simon d'Artois came within one point of a bronze medal at the 2023 FIS Freestyle Ski World Championships, but will have to settle for fourth.
The Whistler-based halfpipe ski veteran put together a 92.00-point first run, proving that he is still an elite talent. He was unable to improve his score in two subsequent descents, however, and ended up just behind bronze medallist Alex Ferreira of the United States (93.00).
Instead, March 4 belonged to fellow Canadian Olympian Brendan Mackay, who is leaving Bakuriani, Georgia on top of the world with a golden 97.25-point showcase.
“It’s incredible!” declared Mackay in a press release after earning his first career World Championships medal. His previous best performances in any World Championships event were two seventh-place results in 2017 and 2021.
Mackay found himself second in the provisional standings heading into his final descent. The skier from Calgary, Alta. left everything he had in the pipe, opening with a switch left alley-oop double cork 900 critical and wrapping things up with a right double 1260 safety. For the first time, he threw down a left double 1620 safety in competition, which helped vault him past Finnish contender Jon Sallinen.
Sallinen ended up with silver (95.75).
“Once I saw Jon go, I knew I had to do better if I wanted to win. His run was sensational! So I gathered my focus and went for it. It went really well, and I’m very happy with how I skied,” said Mackay, who capped off an excellent season as the second-place overall finisher on the World Cup circuit.
“At the last Worlds, I was first after the qualifiers, but I wasn’t able to hold onto that lead in the final. This time, I wanted to go all the way, and I knew my run would have to be exceptional. I’m proud of my performance!” Mackay continued.
Andrew Longino and Dylan Marineau did not advance past the qualification rounds earlier in the week. The two Calgarians finished 12th and 15th, respectively.
Bronze for Karker and Oldham
On the women’s side, Rachael Karker also wrapped up her season with a new medal, a bronze. The 2021 World Championships runner-up from Erin, Ont. put up 92.25 points on her opening run. Karker, who won this year’s halfpipe Crystal Globe, was held back by multiple crashes in her subsequent attempts but managed to ski away to third.
Hanna Faulhaber of Team USA prevailed in women's halfpipe with 95.75 points on her third and final run. Zoe Atkin of Great Britain rounded out the podium with 94.50.
In the same final, Calgarian Amy Fraser and Dillan Glennie of Courtenay, B.C. finished fifth and eighth, respectively, with scores of 86.00 and 70.00.
A little later on Saturday, Megan Oldham from Parry Sound, Ont. won her second medal of the World Championships in big air, the final event of the competition. Her cumulative score of 174.00 landed her in third place, behind Tess Ledeux of France (186.75) and Sandra Eie of Norway (175.00).
“It’s been an incredible week! I didn’t expect to perform so well, and I’m super happy to have won another medal, especially since it happened on my third jump. The snow conditions made landing difficult, but I managed to get onto the podium. I couldn’t be happier,” said Oldham in a release.
Over in men's big air, fellow Canadians Noah Porter MacLennan (Ottawa, Ont.) and Teal Harle (Whistler) placed eighth and tenth.
Two more Ontarians, Evan McEachran from Oakville and Caledon's Max Moffatt did not advance past the qualification rounds and finished 25th and 33rd in the event, which was dominated by eventual American winner Troy Podmilsak (187.75). Austrian Lukas Muellauer wound up second (184.50) and Olympic champion Birk Ruud of Norway came third (183.50).
Team Canada concludes the World Championships with a total of six medals, bringing the country’s total hardware haul to 107 since the inaugural 1986 event in Tignes, France.
