Canadian snowboarder Max Parrot wins gold at Beijing Winter Olympics just three years after being diagnosed with cancer
A CANADIAN snowboarder has won a controversial Winter Olympic gold - just three years after being diagnosed with cancer.
Max Parrot was diagnosed with Hodgkin lymphoma in December 2018, aged just 24.
But in July 2019, the Quebec star announced he was cancer-free after 12 rounds of chemotherapy across six months.
Parrot, now 27, nailed the second run of the slopestyle event in Beijing to pip China's 17-year-old Su Yiming and fellow Canadian Mark McMorris for gold - one better than the silver he managed at Pyeongchang 2018.
But commentators and viewers were convinced he missed a board grab during the winning effort.
However, it was not picked up by the judges.
After landing gold, Parrot told : "It feels amazing.
"So much went by in those last four years. The last time I was at the Olympics, in Pyeongchang, I got a silver medal, and then I had to go through cancer.
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"It was a nightmare - it's so hard to describe what I've been through.
"You have no cardio, you have no energy, you have no muscles.
"To be back out here, at the Olympics, on a podium again but with a gold medal, it feels amazing."
The gold caps an incredible start to the year for Parrot, who also proposed to his girlfriend Kay in January.
Parrot was third after the first of the three runs, as 2018 champion Red Gerard led the way.
But the Canadian's score of a whopping 90.96 on run No2 was the best of the lot.
Parrot added: "I laid down the best run of my entire life.
"I'm so proud of every feature, how I was able to clear them, and I'm really stoked with my score."
