Olympic skiers win medals in men’s halfpipe

David Wise recovered from equipment failures on his first two runs to defend his Olympic gold medal in ski halfpipe Thursday.

The 27-year-old from Reno, Nevada, and his team worked to fix his ski bindings, which came loose on his first two runs, before he dropped in for his final run.

He responded with a 97.20 that vaulted him immediately to the top of the standings.

Fellow American Alex Ferreira, who led after the first two runs, was unable to leap over Wise with this third run, but won silver with a score of 96.40.

New Zealand’s Nico Porteous won bronze with a score of 94.80.

Wise, the 2013 world champion in halfpipe, most recently placed fourth at the 2017 world championships. He is also a four-time X Games gold medalist in SuperPipe, including this year’s edition last month.

Wise currently sits second in the World Cup halfpipe standings, having won two events this season.

Sitting in front of Wise in those standings is Ferreira, who has one win and two second place finishes this season. Ferreira is a four-time X Games medalist in SuperPipe, including winning silver behind Wise last month.

Aaron Blunck, 21, of Crested Butte, Colorado, finished seventh, while Torin Yater-Wallace, 22, of Basalt, Colorado, was ninth.

Byron Wells of New Zealand, who qualified in fourth place for the event, crashed during training and was unable to participate in the final.