Mark McMorris just became the winningest athlete in Winter X Games history. You can watch the full video above, and I’d recommend it, as there was some insane snowboarding during the entire event. But if you want things summed up nicely, skip to the 7:40 mark, and watch the duel go down.
McMorris was sitting pretty atop the podium for a good portion of the event after his second run, which beat out those of Judd Henkes and Red Gerard, but Marcus Kleveland wasn’t going down without a fight. On his fourth and final attempt, Kleveland, sitting in third, landed a flawless run, pushing Mons Røisland to third, and McMorris to second. But McMorris, the oldest competitor in the field at 29 years old, showed why they call him “The Closer,” with a perfect line that corrected wobbles from previous runs, and upped the difficulty to boot.
The win earned McMorris his 22nd X Games gold medal, which made him the winningest athlete in the history of the Winter X Games. “Something I never thought would ever come to me as a kid from Saskatchewan,” said McMorris after the win. “Everything’s just been a bonus since I became a pro snowboarder.”
