BONGPYEONG, South Korea — Red Gerard carried his board, just about as tall as him, in his right hand and raised his left fist in the air. Chants of “U-S-A!” filled the bottom of the slopestyle course, many coming from brothers who had ushered him into the sport.
Minutes earlier, Gerard had stood in last place out of 11 riders still alive in the men’s slopestyle finals. Now he awaited his score after an electrifying run that ended with an audacious trick — the Backside triple cork 1440. The score flashed: 87.16. It had vaulted him into first.
Gerard, a 17-year-old snowboarder from Cleveland by way of Colorado, won the United States’ first medal of the PyeongChang Olympics here Sunday afternoon, earning a stunning gold in men’s slopestyle with a creative final run that ended with a spinning, acrobat final jump, his 115-pound, 5-foot-5 frame flying through the mountain chill.
When he landed, he could see his own face — about a dozen of them, in fact. Gerard’s cheering section became an attraction of its own at Bokwang Snow Park. Eighteen family members and close friends — “big-time partyers,” Gerard called them — traveled to watch Gerard compete. They waved signs (sample: “We’re here to get Gerarded”) and cardboard cutouts of Gerard’s face.
They erupted when the final score of Canadian Max Parrot flashed — 86.00, good only for silver. The youngest competitor in the event was also its best.
[Previously: Red Gerard follows his own line into Olympic slopestyle finals]
Gerard’s medal validated the Americans’ performance in the event from Sochi in 2014, when Sage Kotsenburg won gold in an upset. Gerard is known for his slight frame and inventive style, the way he navigates a slopestyle course’s array of railings and jumps in a different manner from his competition.
“You want to be creative,” Gerard said after qualifying, “and take your own route.”
The United States won no medals on the first full day of the Winter Olympics, its first opening-day shutout since the 1998 Nagano Games. Gerard ensured the United States would not go empty-handed on Day 2.
“Every time Red goes into a contest, he has one of the most creative runs, with such a creative style,” teammate and close friend Kyle Mack said. “He’s such a good rider.”
The day began with inauspicious conditions. Gerard’s size gives him the advantage of being able to rotate quickly in the air, but he is more prone to wind gusts affecting his jumps. On Sunday morning, it was so breezy that, a couple dozen miles away, skiing officials canceled the men’s downhill on account of wind.
On his first of three runs, Gerard ended a smooth, technically exquisite path without attempting any kind of spin or twist on the final jump, presumably a concession to the wind and discretion, choosing to wait to pull a bigger trick for one of his last two runs.
His second run started strong, with several special tricks off and around the rails at the top of the slope. On his second jump, though, he failed to land a double cork and cruised easily the rest of the run. He had one more run for a chance at the podium.
He nailed it.
The youngest of five brothers and second-youngest of seven siblings, Gerard learned snowboarding by following around his brothers, first to small hills with $10 lift tickets outside his childhood home in Cleveland, then to the mountains of Colorado, where his family moved when he was 8. He always possessed precocious athletic talent — his mother, Jen, recalled him walking at nine months. Gerard started competing internationally at 10 and joined the U.S. national team at 13.
When asked after qualifying what he would be doing if not for the Olympics, Gerard replied, “I don’t know. Maybe going to school.”
Gerard came to PyeongChang wanting and expecting, in his words, a “mellow” experience. He grew up following snowboarding contests such as the X Games and Dew Tour, not necessarily the Olympics, although he did watch his friend Kotsenburg win in Sochi. He spoke wistfully of riding with his brothers in his family’s backyard and admiringly of backcountry runs — “true snowboarding,” he said.
Still, Gerard is now an Olympic medalist, and he could add to his medal haul. He also will compete in the big air competition, which is making its Olympic debut in these Games, with qualifying scheduled for Feb. 21. In his first public appearance at the Games, at a news conference earlier in the week, Gerard said, “I don’t even know what the Olympics is.” Already, though, he has made his mark on them.