Judges had their work cut out for them and fans witnessed history Sunday night as freeskiers showcased an astonishing level of collective progression in the qualifying round of men’s big air at the 2026 Milan Cortina Olympics in Italy.
Mac Forehand of the U.S. led the charge, combining a switch left triple cork 1980 (93.25) with a left nose-butter triple cork 1620 (89.75) to place 1st with 183.00. He’ll drop in last in Tuesday’s final.
Forehand’s U.S. teammates Troy Podmilsak and Konnor Ralph barely made the 12-skier cut in 10th (174.00) and 12th (171.75), despite putting down incredible combos of their own.
RESULTS
Austria’s Matej Svancer posted the 2nd-best overall score (182.25), followed by Norwegians Birk Ruud and Tormod Frostad in 3rd (181.00) and 4th (180.25). Ruud, who won gold in slopestyle last week and is the defending champion in big air, opted to skip his final run.
“It was a really good qualifier,” Ruud said. “I expect [the final] to be a tough battle. In the top section there’s going to be a lot of big tricks. The plan is to just try to enjoy it, put down my best tricks. That’s all I can do.”
Luca Harrington of New Zealand, winner of last month’s Winter X Games, was 5th (179.75).
“It’s been a crazy event,” Harrington said. “The tricks that have been put down are spectacular. These are massive, massive tricks. A lot of these guys have pulled out new, bigger tricks, just even for the qualis. I think we’re going to have an exciting show for the finals coming up.”
French skiers Matias Roche and Timothe Sivignon seemingly came out of nowhere to place 6th (178.50) and 7th (178.00). Only Sivignon has made a World Cup podium (finishing 2nd at Klagenfurt in 2025 and Copper in 2022).
