Couldn’t be happy for Mark McMorris as he has been included in Canada’s Pyeongchang 2018 Winter Olympics men’s slopestyle squad. This is remarkable as Mark suffered a serious accident in the Whistler backcountry back on March 25 that left the 23 year old Regina native with severe injuries including a fractured jaw, ruptured spleen and collapsed left lung.
Insidethegames.biz reports that despite these injuries, Canada Snowboard’s executive director Patrick Jarvis said the team are confident McMorris will be able to appear at Pyeongchang.
His brother Craig McMorris wasn’t pessimistic about his bro’s Olympic bid even when he was laid out on a hospital bed with tubes sticking out of him every which way. Craig had this to say to The Sun about his chance in South Korea just days after the accident:
“It’s more than possible. It’s for sure. I mean, he’s tough as nails. It’s been 48 hours and he’s gone from being the most broken human to talking and communicating. He’s got a stronger grip than I do in his right hand. The amount of progress he’s made in the last two days is insane. I’m 100% confident. In his mind, he’s going to the Olympics. In my mind, he’s going to the Olympics. There’s no reason why he can’t.”
Best of luck to Mark in the games. Anyone that go from looking like this to competing at the highest level that snowboarding has to offer has the support of Unofficial. Fired up for you Mark!
[images from craigmcmorris instagram & markmcmorris instagram]