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Lewis Irving of Canada competes in final one of the men’s aerials final on Friday.Hannah Peters/Getty Images
The Canadian men came up short in the aerials competition, though Quebec’s Lewis Irving, 30, put on a good show in a sport that sees competitors launch themselves more than 15 metres into the air to perform complex twists and flips.
In the first qualification round, Irving placed fourth among 25 competitors, putting him in podium contention. In the second qualification round, he was fourth again. He then dropped to seventh in the first of the two finals, putting him out of contention. Only the top six qualified for the medal round.
“My hand hit the ground and that was it,” Irving said.
Chinese and Swiss athletes utterly dominated the event, taking the six top positions.
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Gold medalist Xindi Wang of China, silver medalist Noe Roth of Switzerland, and Bronze medalist Tianma Li of China on the podium.Cameron Spencer/Getty Images
Wang Xindi of China took gold after narrowly beating the reigning world champion, Noe Roth of Switzerland, who took silver. Li Tianma of China won bronze.
Wang’s first-place performance takes China’s gold count in Milan Cortina to four – a tie with Canada as of Friday mid-afternoon local time.
Many of the athletes who competed Friday in the aerials will compete again on Saturday in the mixed team aerials.
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