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Park City’s McRae Williams separated his shoulder in his Olympic debut, popped it back in and finished his run

McRae Williams, of the United States, waits for his score during the men's slopestyle qualifying at Phoenix Snow Park at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea, Sunday, Feb. 18, 2018. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

Bongpyeong, South Korea • If there was any pain or discomfort, the expression on the face of McRae Williams showed neither. He would’ve been right to be slouched over, the throbbing pain of a shoulder separation mid-run in his Olympic debut taking hold. He instead stood upright for interview after interview in the mixed zone at the base of the Phoenix Snow Park, explaining that yeah, it was a bummer, but that’s the way it goes.

It’s nothing new, as insane as that sounds.

The Park City-raised slopestyle skier anticipated this was the fifth or sixth time his right shoulder has popped out of its socket. It just so happened it came on the second run of Sunday’s men’s slopestyle qualifying event, where the reigning 2017 world champion needed to put down his best run.

Then the dreaded pop.

Williams tried to attempt a tail-grab on the jump right after. Not the wisest decision in retrospect, he said. “Kind of a bad thing to go for,” he added. He eventually skied to a stop, popped it back in himself and was ready to tape it up for the finals if his first score of 81.60 held.

Williams knew it likely wouldn’t.

Unfortunately it didn’t.

He finished 15th overall.

Instead of flipping for gold on the park, he later stood in the crowd cheering on teammates Nick Goepper and Gus Kenworthy, who both advanced to the final. Goepper, the bronze medalist from the 2014 Olympics in Sochi, won silver. Not the first Olympic go that Williams envisioned, but he wasn’t letting the untimely injury spoil his day.

McRae Williams, of the United States, jumps during the men's slopestyle qualifying at Phoenix Snow Park at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea, Sunday, Feb. 18, 2018. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

It was a fight just to step into his skis Sunday and put down a run.

Williams suffered a grade-3 MCL avulsion fracture in his knee three weeks ago at Winter X Games in Aspen, Colo.. The last month had been a battle just staying in ski shape. Then he suffered a partially torn muscle in his calf on the last day of practice up at the Phoenix Snow Park.

“It’s been a battle,” he said, “but that’s part of the sport. It’ll make me stronger.”

As he’s mentioned entering these Games, Williams, 27, grew up never envisioning a life in which the Olympics were possible for him. Now that he’s here and experienced life as an Olympian, he said he’s most proud to perform for his mother and sister, who were in attendance, as well as the rest of his family and friends back home in Utah.

“It’s been amazing,” he said. “It’s just been an honor to experience all this and growing up, we were never part of the Olympics. It’s definitely a big deal and a lot of eyes on us right now, but at the end of the day, for us as skiers, it’s just another contest, so I’m trying to think of it that way.”

He noted a few times, “I’m just stoked to be here.”

There were nerves as the first skier out of the gate.

In a judged event, Williams explained, it’s tough on the first skier to throw down a run because the judges typically don’t know how to compare it to others, at least not yet. Williams’ first run was solid, but not what he’s capable of. He put down a 93.80 run to win gold at last year’s world championships in Spain. That same score would’ve been good enough for silver Sunday in South Korea.

Bad luck struck Williams on the largest of career stages, but he shrugged it off and stayed proud of his first run, the first at an Olympics, with potentially more to come if he wants to keep going.

“That’s just all more meaningful than getting any sort of podium or, you know, any success that will come out of this,” he said. “That’s a success in of itself.”

McRae Williams, of the United States, looks at his score after his run during the men's slopestyle qualifying at Phoenix Snow Park at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea, Sunday, Feb. 18, 2018. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)