McMorris takes to the mountain once more in Big Air finals

He’s already a bronze medalist, but Mark McMorris is looking for one more.

The Regina snowboarder took third place in the slopestyle event early in the games but is back in the Big Air event after qualifying for the finals on Tuesday with 95.75 points.

Of course, these Olympics have already been a success in some ways for the snowboarder, who just 11 months ago was involved in a horrific backcountry crash that left him in a medically induced coma and multiple broken bones.

The 24-year-old’s comeback was a gruelling one marked with extensive physical therapy to get him back on the board in time for the Games.

“(Recovery) is not easy let me tell you that. You need to put every ounce of effort in and just be patient and take the time,” McMorris said in an interview before the Games.

“It’s really hard physically, but I would say it’s just as hard mentally. Trying to convince yourself you’re getting better, to keep going and to have the drive to get back on snow.”

But he did get back on the snow, back to his crazy aerial tricks and now back to the Olympics.

For his dad Don McMorris, there was no doubt.

“Mark gets up every day and works hard to make this day better then the next day. It’s a long journey and for him I know everybody’s talking about that but he feels 100 per cent and he doesn’t know why people is talking about (the accident) anymore,” Don said after Mark won bronze.

“His favourite saying when he was young ‘this is the best day of my life’ and he’s had a lot of them.”

And Mark is angling for one more “best day of my life” as he competes in the Big Air finals Friday night.