Winter Olympics 2022: Freezing cold to gold, New Zealand wins on halfpipe

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The gold medalist, Nico Porteous, had blood caked to his ear.

The silver medalist, David Wise, was tired — as much from skiing as from running halfway up the Olympic halfpipe to check on a teammate after a nasty fall.

One of bronze medalist Alex Ferreira’s biggest takeaways on a day made for hand warmers, hot chocolates and warm fires: "I mean, I’m alive."

Mother Nature saved the worst for last on Saturday — the final day of flips and spins at the Olympic action park. With wind chills dipping to minus 26 degrees F (minus 32 degrees C), and with snow pellets and clouds sporadically infiltrating the halfpipe itself, the day of the men's halfpipe final was a day for die-hards only.

"Pretty gnarly," said Gus Kenworthy, the 2014 silver medalist, who finished eighth.

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Gold medal winner New Zealand's Nico Porteous celebrates during the venue award ceremony for the men's halfpipe finals at the 2022 Winter Olympics, Saturday, Feb. 19, 2022, in Zhangjiakou, China. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)

The medalists — Porteous from New Zealand and Wise and Ferreira from the United States — were the same three, ordered differently, who landed on the podium four years ago at the Pyeongchang Games.

Their victories this time were a testament to their experience. Also, a show of sheer guts. It was hard, frankly, to call anyone a runner-up in this one, especially because everyone skied off in one piece. It was a contest, some skiers suggested, that would have been called off had it not been put at the tail-end of the Olympic schedule, with no backup days available.

"My goal was to get the gold," Ferreira said. "But being