By Mari Saito and Winni Zhou
ZHANGJIAKOU, China (Reuters) -Facing gusts of freezing wind, Nico Porteous of New Zealand won gold in the men’s freeski halfpipe final at the Beijing Games on Saturday, while defending champion American David Wise settled for silver.
Chasing Wise’s lead in the first run Porteous landed massive back-to-back 1620s to earn his best score of 93 in his opening run, making four-and-a-half revolutions in the air.
With his victory, Porteous became the first New Zealand man to win a gold medal at the Winter Games.
Wise, who won gold in the halfpipe at both the Pyeongchang and Sochi Games, took silver with 90.75 after he was unable to best the New Zealander in his final run.
“Ahhh I wanted to do so much more,” Wise could be heard saying at the finish.
Alex Ferreira of the United States won bronze with his best run score of 86.75.
Skiers soared over a giant halfpipe as frosty wind pushed air temperatures down to -22 degree Celsius (-7.6°F). Several skiers crashed and fell into the pipe from the outset and many of them commented on the strong wind.
American Aaron Blunck, who dropped into the halfpipe last on Saturday, crashed and fell to the bottom of the pipe. After a few moments surrounded by medical staff, the American skied down the course to applause from his teammates and rivals.
(Reporting by Winni Zhou and Mari Saito; Editing by Himani Sarkar)
