Red Gerard Takes Slopestyle Gold
Red Gerard (Silverthorne, Colo.) stomped the run of his life to win Team USA’s first gold medal of the 2018 Olympic Winter Games Sunday in slopestyle snowboarding.
"I’m just insanely excited right now," said Gerard, who is the youngest Olympic snowboarding gold medalist ever. "I can’t believe it all worked out. I just wanted to land a run. After falling on my second run, I was really excited for the third run."
Sitting well out of medal contention after crashing out on his first two of three runs, Gerard absolutely nailed his third run with a score of 87.16 and withstood a stout challenge from Canada's Max Parrot, whose third and final run score of 86.00 was good enough for silver. Parrot's teammate, Mark McMorris, tallied an 85.20 on his second run for his second consecutive Olympic bronze medal.
"When that score came up my jaw dropped," Gerard said. "I was like ‘this isn’t real’. I would have been happy to just land a run, but to land a run and win, it’s crazy."
Gerard’s gold medal was the second consecutive Olympic slopestyle snowboarding gold for Team USA, dating back to the 2014 Games when Sage Kotsenburg won. Jamie Anderson also won the women's slopestyle's snowboarding event at the 2014 Games, which was the sport's slopestyle Olympic debut. Anderson will defend her gold when the women's competition begins with qualifying Sunday afternoon. The women's finals are set for Monday, February 12 at 10:00 a.m. KT / 8:00 p.m. EST Sunday.
RESULTS
Men's slopestyle
Silver medalist Max Parrot of Canada, gold medalist Red Gerard and bronze medalist Mark McMorris of Canada pose during the victory ceremony for the snowboard slopestyle final Sunday. (Getty Images - Clive Rose)
Red Gerard crashed out in his first two of three runs in the slopestyle final at the 2018 Winter Olympic Games at Phoenix Snow Park on Sunday. (Getty Images - Clive Rose)
Gold medalist Red Gerard celebrates with silver medalist Max Parrot of Canada during following the snowboard slopestyle final Sunday. (Getty Images - Clive Rose)
Red Gerard came back on his third run to win the gold medal in snowboard slopestyle, the first gold medal of the 2018 Olympic Winter Games for Team USA. (Getty Images - Cameron Spence)
Red Gerard
Cleveland, Ohio’s Red Gerard has made history in the sport. He is the youngest gold medalist ever winning slopestyle at the 2018 games at the young age of 17. He began in the amateur ranks seven years prior and quickly worked his way up to the pro circuit.