Mark McMorris

Snowboarding champion Mark McMorris hailed from an unlikely region - the flat prairie of Regina, Saskatchewan. McMorris was born on Dec. 9, 1993, to Canadian politician Don McMorris and his wife, Cindy, a nurse. He and his older brother, Craig, entered the world of professional snowboarding in their teens. McMorris found victory in his debut season when he scored the most points in the slopestyle final held at the 2010 LG Snowboard World Cup in Calgary. On March 2, 2011, McMorris made history when he successfully landed a never-before-achieved snowboard move known as the backside triple cork 1440, which was captured on video and shared worldwide. He medaled in every Winter X Games between 2011 and 2017, winning six golds overall. He won a bronze medal at the 2014 Winter Olympics despite suffering a fractured rib the month before. During a competition in February 2016, a bad landing caused him to break his right femur, which put him out of commission for four months. Returning to the Winter X Games in 2017, he took home two bronze medals, then followed those up with a gold at the European edition of the tourney in Norway. A few weeks later, while boarding through Canadian backcountry, thick fog caused McMorris to drift off-course into a patch of trees. He suffered multiple injuries that required two surgeries to treat, but after dedicating himself to rehab, McMorris became determined to get back into the game and compete for Team Canada in the 2018 Winter Olympics. In PyeongChang, McMorris earned the bronze medal in men's slopestyle.