ZHANGJIAKOU, China (AP) — Needing to rock his final Olympic halfpipe run just to qualify, Aaron Blunck proceeded to pumped up the volume. With a song called…
ZHANGJIAKOU, China (AP) — Needing to rock his final Olympic halfpipe run just to qualify, Aaron Blunck proceeded to pumped up the volume. With a song called “TOES” featuring DaBaby blaring in his ears, the 25-year-old freestyle skier from Colorado struck just the right note to turn in the best run of anyone. Music to his ears. In a world filled with “double corks,” “Japan grabs” and “backside rodeos,” it’s the tunes that sync it all together for most of these competitors. To them, their air pods are almost as important as the bindings on their skis. “If someone wants to mess with me on a competition day, they’d take away my music,” said New Zealand’s Nico Porteous, who will be one of the favorites in the final Saturday, which marks the end of the fun and games at the Genting Snow Park. “Music is so important to me. Like, the most important thing.” For his qualifying run, Porteous went back in time, to the 1990s, to The Notorious B.I.G.’s song “Who Shot Ya?” It’s the same tune Porteous was listening to when he captured bronze at the 2018 Pyeongchang Games.
