Nick Page nearly skied his way to the podium.
In his Olympic debut, the 19-year-old from Utah advanced to the medal round of the men's mogul final on Saturday at the 2022 Winter Games. There, he produced his best performance of the night on his fourth and final run, scoring a 78.90 (25.68 time, 14.14 time points, 17.16 air, 47.6 turns), to finish fifth for Team USA.
Walter Wallberg scored an 83.23 to dethrone Canada's Mikael Kingsbury and give Sweden its first medal in the sport. Kingsbury, who won gold during the 2018 Games, took silver with an 82.18. Japan's Ikuma Horishia won bronze with an 81.48.
Page finished behind France's Benjamin Cavet, who scored a 79.44.
Impressing judges with his aerial tail grabs, Page had advanced to Final 3 by holding on to the sixth and final spot with a score of 76.92 (25.63 time, 14.2 time points, 17.22 air, 45.5 turns).
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In his first run in Final 1, Page scored a 76.80 (25.98 time, 13.74 time points, 16.76 air, 46.3 turns) for the tenth best score of the run, with the top 12 advancing.
Page had claimed one of the final 10 spots in the final during the second qualifying round earlier Saturday with a score of 77.93.
Cole McDonald and Dylan Walczyk were eliminated in the first final after failing to finish within the top 12. McDonald finished 14th with a score of 75.78 (25.29 time, 14.65 time points, 15.53 air, 45.6 turns). Walczyk was 16th with a 75.13 (25.13 time, 14.86 time points, 15.27 air, 45.0 turns).
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"I had such a great run going and mogul skating can be so tough when you're just so close to having that perfect run that you really needed," McDonald told NBC. "I was just a quarter of an inch short of that, and that wrapped up my Olympic experience. But overall, it was a great experience qualifying fifth and putting down a run I as happy with and being able to cross the line and just wave to my parents and being happy at the end."
McDonald and Walczyk had secured their spots in the final during the first qualifying round on Thursday, with McDonald finishing fifth and Walczyk tenth. Team USA's Bradley Wilson failed to advance after posting a score of 72.94 in Saturday's qualifier.
