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ZHANGJIAKOU, China — Noah Bowman improved on his previous Olympic performances but again fell short of the podium at the Beijing Games.

Bowman, from Calgary, finished fourth in men's freeski halfpipe on Saturday, scoring 84.75 points on his second run. He finished fifth in 2014 at Sochi and again in 2018 at Pyeongchang. 

"It's definitely tough. I was here to give it everything I had and I can confidently say I did that," said Bowman after missing out on bronze by two points. "So I'm proud of myself but it's really hard to be here and off the podium again."

Canada was looking to add to its medal haul a day after Cassie Sharpe and Rachael Karker won silver and bronze in the women's halfpipe, respectively.

"I was here with the intention to win and get on that podium," said Bowman, who scored an 84.25 in his first run and fell in his third. "I'm proud of how I skied. 

"The result isn't necessarily a factor in that but I gave it everything I had and I'm proud of myself."

Nico Porteous gave New Zealand its second gold medal in Beijing with his winning score of 93. David Wise of the United States took silver with 90.75. Fellow American Alex Ferreira scored 86.75 on his first run.

"I can't really describe that, to be honest," said Porteous. "I'm so, so happy and I'm currently over the moon. I still can't really believe it."

All three of the medal-winning scores came from the first run, as strong winds at Zhangjiakou Genting Snow Park made it difficult to land high-scoring tricks. The icy gusts broke some television light stands and forced in-house production staff to strap down a boom camera as a safety precaution.

Several competitors took hard spills, including Great Britain's Gus Kenworthy, who landed on his back on the lip of the pipe.

"Conditions were really tough and it's frustrating that we don't quite get to show the world our top level of competition here," said Bowman, who emphasized that the three medallists had very impressive runs and deserved their laurels. 

"Everybody's fighting for it and doing their best. It's just a bit of a shame that this is what we get to present the world."

Calgary's Brendan Mackay was ninth with a score of 65.50 in his Olympic debut. After a hard fall in his first run tweaked his rib cage, Mackay said it was a struggle to lay down a complete run. He then fell his third time down the halfpipe.

"It sucks because in all your tricks, you really have to flex your core," said Mackay of his hurt ribs. "So it's just a bit painful, but you know, nothing a bit of Advil can't fix."

Simon D'Artois of Whistler, B.C., was 10th with a 63.75. He improved on his result at the 2018 Pyeongchang Games, where he was 13th. He said that he was pleased because he introduced a new trick — an alley-oop double cork 1080 — that had never been done in competition before.

"The last one there wasn't as clean as I'd like it but, you know, a bunch of could-have-beens, but it's been a great day regardless of the weather and how I skied so down the last hit there," said D'Artois.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 18, 2022.

John Chidley-Hill, The Canadian Press