Wānaka’s Luca Harrington has won a bronze medal for New Zealand in the men’s freeski slopestyle at the Milano Cortina Winter Olympics this morning (February 11), securing the country’s second medal of the Games.

The 21-year-old was one of 12 finalists in the three-run competition, alongside fellow Wānaka skier Ben Barclay, with the athletes’ best score counting toward the final standings.

Ben was the first competitor to land a complete run, earning a solid score of 69.40. Luca opened strongly with a stylish first run but was unable to land his switch triple cork 1620 on the second jump.

Both New Zealanders struggled in their second attempts, with Luca again missing the triple cork and Ben coming off a rail early in his run.

Luca regrouped in the final round, delivering a clean, confident run to secure third place on the podium.

Norway’s Birk Ruud claimed gold with an outstanding opening run, while American skier Alex Hall, the defending Olympic champion from Beijing, won silver.

See the full results here.

PHOTO: NZ Team