Max Parrot "still on a cloud" after Beijing triumph and cancer comeback

Max Parrot won snowboard gold and bronze at Beijing 2022 and still can't quite believe it.

“I’m still on a cloud,” Parrot said on his return to Canada, adding that it wasn’t something he ever imagined as a kid growing up. “So it kind of it still feels unreal.”

The snowboard slopestyle gold medallist and Big Air bronze medal winner spoke to gathered reporters in Montreal where Parrot opened up about overcoming cancer during this Olympic cycle.

He underwent chemotherapy to treat Hodgkinʼs lymphoma just three years before recovering to reach the top of the podium at the Winter Games.

"For six months, battling cancer was so hard,” he said. "To even think I would go to a third Olympics was not in my thoughts. It was too far ahead."

And cancer has given the 27-year-old new perspective.

“I know not to take life for granted anymore and to not take any passions you have for granted anymore. Every time I step up on my snowboard … I’m always smiling more than before.

“We can definitely say that cancer had a big impact, positively, on my career."

Parrot overcame 17-year-old Chinese prodigy Su Yiming in the slopestyle final with a stunning run including two triples.

“This is so incredibly special, especially with the run I did today. It's the biggest run I've done in my entire career. I've never done two triples in a row in a run, with that difficulty as well, and everything was so clean," Parrot said after sealing his victory.

"I am extremely proud of myself and to take gold on that run means so much for me."

“I don’t take anything for granted any more," he added when asked about his battle with cancer. "It made me such a better snowboarder, as well. I try to appreciate every day now - the little things in the morning through to my