Olympian Max Parrot Won Canada's First Gold In Beijing & Even Ryan Reynolds Is Freaking Out

Snowboarder Max Parrot has won Canada's first gold medal at the 2022 Winter Games in Beijing and he just got a shoutout from Ryan Reynolds.

On Monday, February 7, Parrot nabbed the top prize in his sport and was crowned "Canada's first-ever men's slopestyle champion," according to the Canadian Olympic site.

As well as being a decorated Olympian, Parrot is also a cancer survivor, which Reynolds posted about on his Insta story.

"2019: fighting cancer at the hospital. 2022: winning an Olympic gold medal at Bejing 2022," read the text on the post. "Max Parrot is the definition of Inspiration!"

Reynolds had his own words for what Parrot is: "Absolute beast."

@vancityreynolds | Instagram

Between the 2018 and 2022 Winter Games, Parrot was diagnosed with Hodgkin's lymphoma, underwent chemotherapy for six months, and then returned to his sport, according to his profile.

The 27-year-old hails from Quebec and started snowboarding at a young age, despite coming from a family of skiers. His family apparently didn't want him in the sport as they thought it was more dangerous than skiing, so he spent a summer mowing lawns to save up for his own snowboard.

The Beijing Olympics have featured quite a few ups and downs for Team Canada.

Mackenzie Boyd-Clowes live-tweeted his bronze medal win in ski jumping with some hilarious results. He apparently thinks the Olympics have Triwizard Tournament vibes and that Twitter is brain poison, but that hasn't stopped him from posting.

There has been heartbreak for some like for Team Canada skier Elena Gaskell who was injured the day before her event and for skier Justine Dufour-Lapointe who took a terrifying tumble on the slopes.

Canada's athletes are competing in 109 events during the Olympics in Beijing and the Games aren't over until February 20, so there are a lot more opportunities for a podium finish!