CanadaB次元官网网址檚 Mark McMorris is doing all he can to stay safe ahead of the Beijing Olympics B次元官网网址� which he expects will start as scheduled.

McMorris will be competing at a snowboarding World Cup event in Mammoth Mountain, Calif., this weekend and then B次元官网网址渓aying incredibly lowB次元官网网址� until the Beijing Olympics begin in early February. The 2020 Summer Games in Tokyo were delayed one year because of the COVID-19 pandemic and surging infection rates because of the Omicron variant have once again raised the spectre of a postponed Olympics.

He said heB次元官网网址檚 relying on room service in his Las Vegas hotel room until itB次元官网网址檚 time to leave for California, then heB次元官网网址檒l do some training in Whistler, B.C., before holing up and waiting for his flight to China.

B次元官网网址淭hink itB次元官网网址檚 a small price to pay for something that is a huge goal of mine to go there and compete and IB次元官网网址檝e been waiting for a while for this one,B次元官网网址� said McMorris on Monday. B次元官网网址淚tB次元官网网址檚 really too bad that (Omicron) popped up and itB次元官网网址檚 so transmissible right before the Games.

B次元官网网址淚t seemed a little chiller when the Summer Games were going on. But yeah, here we go.B次元官网网址�

McMorris will be competing in the big air and slopestyle competitions at his third Olympics in Beijing. He won a bronze medal in slopestyle at the 2014 Sochi Olympics and then earned the same result in 2018 at the Pyeongchang Games, 11 months after a catastrophic accident while going snowboarding in the backcountry outside of Whistler.

The 28-year-old Regina native said that aside from this weekendB次元官网网址檚 competition he will be isolated with his team until Beijing. When contact is necessary with people outside that bubble he will be B次元官网网址渄ouble masked up.B次元官网网址�

B次元官网网址淛ust really trying to stay out of harmB次元官网网址檚 way for just a month. You know, just get there at least,B次元官网网址� said McMorris. B次元官网网址淚 havenB次元官网网址檛 been so freaked out of getting it until now.B次元官网网址�

McMorris had a challenging 2020-21 season including struggles qualifying for the Beijing Olympics. He missed the opening World Cup event of the season in Laax, Switzerland, when all of CanadaB次元官网网址檚 team was quarantined because of COVID-19.

He then tested positive for the virus B次元官网网址� although he remained asymptomatic B次元官网网址� on Jan. 26, forcing him to miss the X-Games in Aspen, Colo.

Much of his season was captured in B次元官网网址淐hasing Winter,B次元官网网址� a four-part documentary series produced by Red Bull and currently streaming on CBC Gem. Starring McMorris and featuring Americans Jake Caster, Brock Crouch, Hailey Langland, as well as JapanB次元官网网址檚 Takeru Otsuka and Miyabi Onitsuka, the series follows the snowboarders as they try to qualify for the Olympics B次元官网网址� which, as a running joke, none of them can refer to by name for copyright reasons.

B次元官网网址淚t was really cool to show me going to my third Games and what my path has looked like over the last four years,B次元官网网址� said McMorris. B次元官网网址淎nd then bring in all these people that I think have really, really awesome stories to tell, and have a good shot at going (to the Olympics) and just wanting to bring the audience in and show that itB次元官网网址檚 a real thing. ItB次元官网网址檚 gnarly and itB次元官网网址檚 fun.B次元官网网址�

B次元官网网址擩ohn Chidley-Hill, The Canadian Press