Canada has a 1-in-4 chance of Podium Finish in Men's Snowboard Slopestyle

McMorris and Parrot after wining Slopesyle medals in 2018. (Laurent Salino/Agence Zoom/Getty Images - image credit)

Thirty athletes qualified, but only 12 can make the final. A trio of household names continue to produce.

Mark McMorris, Sébastien Toutant and Max Parrot all made their Olympic debut in 2014, and have been household names in Canadian snowboarding since. They entered this year's slopestyle competition along with Olympic rookie Darcy Sharpe.

Sharpe tried to join the trio in the final to resemble the PyeongChang games which saw four Canadians in the slopestyle when the core trio was joined by Tyler Nicholson, however, Sharpe could not put together a clean run in his two attempts as he score a 45.46 and a 25.15.

McMorris, Toutant and Parrot are in familiar territory. McMorris is a back-to-back bronze medalist in the event, while Parrot is the defending silver medalist. Toutant, placed 11th in the event in 2018 but is familiar with the podium as he won gold in the big air competition.

In the qualifiers, McMorris placed second with a score of 83.30, Toutant eighth with a score of 71.06 and Parrot tenth with a score of 70.11. The odds of a Canadian being on the podium are less than they were in PyeongChang, however, this trio has proven that they can still compete.

Team USA also qualified three athletes for the final including defending gold medalist Red Girard, who one that medal as a 17-year-old. McMorris, 28, Toutant, 29, and Parrot, 27, are some of the older competitors in the event. They will have to go through another 17-year-old in China’s own Su Yiming, who turns 18 on February 18, qualified first with a score of 86.80.

With the trio of snowboarders trending in the right direction, you can expect at least one of them to be hovering around the podium. Ideally, Canadians would love to see them sweep the podium. However, one thing is guaranteed and that is serious medal contenders not because of the odds for a Canadian on the podium but they all have proven that they have the skills in their arsenal.

The final is set for tonight at 11 p.m. ET/ 8 p.m. PT as part of day three of the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympic Games.