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American Jake Canter Wins Olympic Slopestyle Bronze

Originally posted on SNOWBOARDER | By Josh Sullivan | Last updated Feb 18, 2026 7:22 AM ET

Jake Canter had successfully put down the 1920 on his final jump of the day. Then all he could do was wait while some of the best competitors in the history of slopestyle dropped in.

Mark McMorris. Marcus Kleveland. Yiming Su. All of them had to drop, as Canter waited at the bottom, and the first two on that list had the potential to bump Canter off of the podium.

First came McMorris. He was flawless through his rails section but fell on his second jump. Then came Marcus Kleveland, who put down a combo of Cab butter 1620 and double Todeo 1080 in his line. It looked like that might be enough to land on the podium, but after we all had to wait for what felt like an eternity, the judges deemed Kleveland came up .4 points short.

Then just Dane Menzies, the rider from New Zealande, could shake up the podium. He fell on his second jump, and that solidified it. In his first Olympics, Canter left with the bronze medal.

Gold medalist Yiming Su of Team People's Republic of China celebrates with the national flag of People's Republic of China after competing in the Men's Slopestyle Final on day twelve of the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic games at Livigno Snow Park on February 18, 2026 in Livigno, Italy.Michael Reaves/Getty Images

China’s Yiming Su won gold, his second medal of these Games. Su put down a score of 82.41 in his first run of the day to jump into the top spot. He never gave that spot up. He finished his jump section with a switch backside 1620 Melon and a backside 1800 nose grab. He poked out a super steezy butter Cab 1440 Mute grab. And he had to sit and watch everyone else drop in, tears in his eyes, with the potential to overtake him for the gold.

Japan’s Taiga Hasegawa won the silver, with a score of 82.13. Hasegawa also put down his best run in his first run, throwing several tricks down with double grabs, including a backside double rodeo 1280 melon to tail grab in his eventually medal-securing run.

Gold medalist Yiming Su of Team People’s Republic of China, Silver medalist Taiga Hasegawa of Team Japan and Bronze medalist Jake Canter of Team United States celebrate during the medal ceremony for the Men’s Snowboard Slopestyle on day twelve of the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic games at Livigno Snow Park on February 18, 2026 in Livigno, Italy. Michael Reaves/Getty Images

American Red Gerard stomped his own first run to score a 76.60. But on his second run, he reverted out of the landing of the pole jam, and on his final run, he ran out of landing room trying to put down a backside 1800 melon on the first jump. He sat in fourth place, just off of the podium. He would only be jumped by teammate Canter, France’s Romain Allemand, and Kleveland, and finished in sixth.

Mark McMorris had battled back from a head injury suffered during Big Air finals to compete in slopestyle. He put down a 75.50 on his first run, but like Gerard, ran out of room in the landing, and fell hard on the second jump of his final run. American Ollie Martin finished just behind him in ninth place.

This article first appeared on SNOWBOARDER and was syndicated with permission.

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