Olympic ski halfpipers crank up the tunes before their runs

By PAT GRAHAM
AP Sports Writer

ZHANGJIAKOU, China (AP) — Freestyle skier’s fill their world with “double corks” and “Japan grabs” in the halfpipe but it’s often the music that helps sync it all together. Those AirPods are almost as important as the bindings on their skis. New Zealand’s Nico Porteous plans to crank up the Notorious B.I.G. song “Who Shot Ya?” in the Olympic ski halfpipe final this weekend. It’s the same tune Porteous was actually listening to when he captured bronze at the 2018 Pyeongchang Games. He recently re-discovered it at the Winter X Games. He used it then and won. It’s now a good-luck tune.