Winter Olympics: David Wise defends men's ski halfpipe title

American freestyle skier David Wise held his nerve to defend his Winter Olympic ski halfpipe title.

Wise, 27, failed to put down a run from his first two efforts but scored 97.20 from his final run in Pyeongchang.

Compatriot Alex Ferreira, who had the best score of runs one and two, finished second behind Wise with 96.40 in a repeat of last month's X Games.

New Zealand's Nico Porteous, 16, scored 94.80 on his second run to win an unexpected bronze.

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That was only the third medal New Zealand have won in the Winter Olympics and came just a couple of hours after Zoi Sadowski-Synnott, also 16, won their second with a bronze in the women's big air.

Porteous' score early in run two put him in front of Ferreira but the American, 23, went back into gold-medal position with a score of 96.00.

In winning the X Games for the fourth time last month, Wise became the first skier to land all four double corks in competition and he repeated the feat at the Phoenix Snow Park to take the lead.

Ferreira improved his score in the final run, but it was just short of Wise's winning mark.

David Wise's son Malachi clambers onto the podium as the American celebrates retaining the ski halfpipe title

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