David Wise returns home to hero's welcome

David Wise returned home to a hero's welcome after winning a medal for his third straight Olympic Winter Games.

The Team USA freestyle skier added silver in the men's halfpipe at Beijing 2022 to his golds from Sochi 2014 and PyeongChang 2018.

On his return, Wise was greeted Reno-Tahoe International Airport by hundreds of fans who sang the national anthem the 'Star-Spangled Banner' on his arrival.

Wise, who joked that the anthem wasn't allowed to be sung because he came second, was stunned by the reception.

"I guess I'm still in a state of disbelief that my career has gone so well and I've been able to share this with the community three times," reported the Reno Gazette Journal.

"It's always my favourite part. Coming home. Sharing it with the home team."

Wise earned his highest score of 90.75 on the first run at Genting Snow Park.

That put him into the lead, but he was displaced by New Zealand's Nico Porteous whose 93.00 proved to be good enough for gold in windy and freezing conditions.

Team USA colleague Alex Ferreira took bronze with the same three men making the podium as four years ago, but in different positions.

Wise, 31, said growing up in Reno and learning to ski in a variety of conditions around Lake Tahoe was an advantage when faced with such a tough proposition at the Games.

He said, "On that day, when the conditions were kind of awful, I just had to embrace it and say, 'All right, this is not what we wanted, but I'm going to do the best I can with it.'"

Beijing 2022 was a different experience to his previous two Games with family and friends unable to travel, although he did make cardboard cut-outs of his wife Alexandria, daughter Nayeli and son Malachi.

He shared a room with Ferreira and Birk Irving, the