Men's Freestyle Skiing Results Olympics 2018: David Wise Wins Gold

David Wise successfully defended his gold medal in the freestyle skiing halfpipe, finishing first in Wednesday's final at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea (dates/times ET).

Wise fell in each of his first two runs, but he earned a 97.20 in his third and final run to beat out fellow American Alex Ferreira, who scored a 96.40. Nico Porteous' 94.80 on his second run was enough to bring a bronze medal home to New Zealand.

NBC Olympics shared a replay of Wise's medal-winning run, which culminated in a double cork 1260:

The qualifying process wasn't without some drama for Wise. The 27-year-old had to wait until only four skiers were left to perform in the third run before he was assured of his place in the final. Wise admitted to holding something back in order to focus more on the next round.

"I never got to do my right [double cork 1260], which is always one of my harder tricks for qualification day," he said, per Shawn Smith of NBCOlympics.com. "So I actually fell on it first run, and I just decided, 'You know what, today is not the day to go for glory and try to win the contest' The task of qualifiers is to qualify. So I took the right dub 12 out of my run, did a two-handed grab on my right [900] and landed it."

The strategy ultimately paid off, and Wise proved he remains the best in the world when he fully applied himself in the final.

He may have some stiff competition on the horizon, though.

Ferreira is knocking on the door, having won two silvers and two bronze medals in the Winter X Games prior to winning his first Olympic medal.

The halfpipe final is also a breakthrough for the 16-year-old Porteous, who had failed to finish higher than sixth in any of his five World Cup events in 2017. The New Zealand Olympic Team shared a photo of Porteous' reaction to winning bronze, which showed how much the honor meant for him:

Porteous' best days are clearly ahead of him, and he appears to be an emerging threat for Wise and Ferreira on the World Cup circuit.