Canadian snowboarder Mark McMorris’ third-place win on Monday created quite a buzz on Twitter. But his bronze medal, however prestigious, is not what sparked the excitement.
McMorris celebrated his win in the Men’s Slopestyle event at Beijing Olympics by channeling his best ‘Joey Bats.’ The Regina-based Olympian did a “board flip”—drawing comparisons to former Toronto Blue Jay Jose Bautista’s iconic bat flip from the 2015 ALDS—to celebrate his third bronze win.
The same event earned Team Canada’s first gold medal of Beijing 2022 from McMorris’s teammate Max Parrot. Parrot and McMorris last shared the podium at the PyeongChang 2018 games.
McMorris scored 88.53, but his celebratory moment brought together fans of baseball and snowboarding alike.
McMorris recently opened up to Complex Canada about pushing past potentially career-ending injuries to perform at the Beijing Olympics.
“[I’m] always fighting super hard to get back up and become my best again,” he said in the interview. “I [also] think everyone showing support in those moments…[pushes me] to get back to a 100 percent in doing what I love.”
With the closing ceremonies approaching Feb. 20, there are certainly many more iconic moments to come.
