Fansided

Olympics Snowboarding Men’s Slopestyle Final medal results, highlights and more

By Mike Dyce

PYEONGCHANG-GUN, SOUTH KOREA - FEBRUARY 11: Gold medalist Redmond Gerard of the United States poses during the victory ceremony for the Snowboard Men's Slopestyle Final on day two of the PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympic Games at Phoenix Snow Park on February 11, 2018 in Pyeongchang-gun, South Korea. (Photo by Clive Rose/Getty Images)
PYEONGCHANG-GUN, SOUTH KOREA - FEBRUARY 11: Gold medalist Redmond Gerard of the United States poses during the victory ceremony for the Snowboard Men's Slopestyle Final on day two of the PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympic Games at Phoenix Snow Park on February 11, 2018 in Pyeongchang-gun, South Korea. (Photo by Clive Rose/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit

Red Gerard wins the gold medal in men’s slopestyle, giving Team USA their first medal of the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang.

Team USA is officially on the board at the 2018 Winter Olympics. Red Gerard notched a mammoth 87.16 score in the slopestyle event in snowboarding to win the gold medal. Not only is it Team USA’s first gold medal, it’s Team USA’s first medal in general.

“When that score came up my jaw dropped,” Gerard said, via TeamUSA.org. “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, just 17, becomes the youngest American to medal in a snowboarding event at the Winter Olympics. What makes the feat perhaps more notable is the come-from-behind element of the win.

After his first and seventh run, Gerard sat in 8th place. In the final round of the slopestyle, only the best score of three runs is taken into consideration. Had the scoring been based on a cumulative score of the three runs, Gerard would not be wearing gold around his neck.

“I’m just insanely excited right now,” he said. “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.”

Canada walked away with silver and bronze, awarded to Max Parrot and Mark McMorris respectively.

This was just the second year slopestyle snowboarding was an Olympic event and Sage Kotsenburg won the gold for Team USA at the 2014 Sochi Games. Team USA now owns both gold medals awarded in men’s slopestyle snowboarding.

Gerard will also compete in the Big Air event at the 2018 Games in Pyeongchang and could be in contention for another medal. Redmond has a bright future in the sport and perhaps could be the heir to Shaun White as the face of the sport. It’s not inconceivable that he could compete in five Olympiads if he manages to stay healthy. He’d be just 29 by the time he was competing in his fourth Olympics in 2030.

Thre other Americans competed in the event — Chris Corning, Kyle Mack and Ryan Stassel — but none made the final.

MEDAL RESULT | Snowboarding: Men's Slopestyle

Redmond Gerard

Max Parrot

Mark McMorris

Highlights:

Next: Best Olympian from each state

For more from the Winter Olympics, make sure to follow FanSided and stayed tuned to our Olympics hub for all the latest news and results.

Home/Winter Olympics