Red Gerard on first gold medal at 17
USAT’s Chris Bumbaca asks snowboarder Red Gerard to unpack his feelings from when he received his first gold medal at 17 years old.
Sports Seriously
MILAN — Ready to catch some big air?
Look no further than snowboarding, one of 16 sports that will be contested at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Italy. All snowboarding events — halfpipe, parallel giant slalom, snowboard cross, big air and slopestyle — will be held at the Livigno Snow Park in the Italian Alps of Livigno.
Two-time Olympic gold medalist Chloe Kim looks to win her third consecutive gold medal in halfpipe. If she accomplishes the feat, she will become the first female snowboarder to win three gold medals and the second overall snowboarder following three-time U.S. Olympic gold medalist Shaun White.
Here’s what you need to know about snowboarding at these Games.
When did snowboarding become a Winter Olympic sport?
Snowboarding made its Winter Olympic debut at the 1998 Nagano Games with men’s and women’s events for giant slalom and halfpipe. Giant slalom was revamped into parallel giant slalom for the 2002 Salt Lake City Games to feature head-to-head racing. Snowboard cross joined the party at the 2006 Turin Games, followed by the additions of slopestyle in 2014 in Sochi and Big Air at the 2018 PyeongChang Games. Mixed team snowboard cross made its debut at the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympic Games.
How does Olympic snowboarding work?
Olympic snowboarding includes 11 total events across five different disciplines:
- Halfpipe (men and women): Snowboarders look to put together a wicked run filled with stunts down an U-shaped structure. Each judge gives a score of 0-100 based on difficulty, execution, amplitude, landing and progression.
- Parallel giant slalom (men and women): Two snowboarders race down two parallel tracks at the same time. In the qualifying round, each racer goes down two tracks once and their times are combined. The top 16 advance to elimination rounds and face-off in head-to-head races until finalists are determined.
- Snowboard cross (men and women): Four snowboarders race head-to-head down a course filled with jumps, moguls and turns. The top 16 are determined through timed qualifiers. From there, the top two athletes from each heat advance to the next round until reaching the final.
- Mixed team snowboard cross: This event has the same rules as snowboard cross, but the field is co-ed with one man and one woman from each country pairing together. The men race first, followed by the women.
- Big air (men and women): Athletes launch their best tricks and jumps off a massive ramp. Each judge gives a score of 0-100 based on difficulty, execution, amplitude, landing and progression.
- Slopestyle (men and women): Snowboarders must put together a flawless run filled with stunts and tricks on their way down the course filled with different rails and structures. Judges score tricks and overall impression of the run.
Top Team USA athletes
All eyes will be on Chloe Kim heading into the halfpipe competition as she looks to become the first woman to win three consecutive Olympic gold medals in halfpipe. Kim became the youngest woman to win an Olympic snowboarding gold medal at age 17 at the 2018 PyeongChang Games and became the first female snowboarder to win back-to-back gold medals when she stood atop the halfpipe podium at the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics. Is more history ahead for Kim?
Others Americans to watch:
- Maddie Mastro (halfpipe): The two-time Olympian is a medal contender after landing a frontside double cork 1080 at the 2025 Laax Open in January 2025. (Chloe Kim is the other female snowboarder to land the trick in competition.) Mastro previously finished in 12th place at the 2018 Winter Olympics and 13th in 2022 in Beijing and is looking to medal.
- Red Gerard (slopestyle, big air): The two-time Olympian put himself on the map at age 17 by winning a gold in slopestyle to become the youngest Olympic snowboarding champion in his Winter Olympics debut in PyeongChang in 2018. (Remember he overslept and borrowed his roommate’s jacket?) He narrowly missed the podium in Beijing in 2022 with a fourth-place slopestyle finish and fifth-place big air finish, but the two-time reigning X Games champion is a favorite to win gold in slopestyle again.
International landscape
Japan’s Ayumu Hirano finally broke through in men’s halfpipe at the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, claiming his first gold in the event after winning silver medals in Pyeongchang in 2018 and Sochi in 2014. He’s a favorite to win it all and could become the first to win back-to-back golds since American Shaun White (2006 Turin, 2010 Vancouver). Hirano will have to go through Australian Scotty James, who won a silver in 2022 and bronze in 2018.
Three Austrian athletes took home gold in Beijing in 2022 — Anna Gasser (women’s big air), Benjamin Karl (men’s parallel giant slalom), Alessandro Hämmerle (men’s snowboard cross) — while Canadian snowboarders won the most overall medals in Beijing, including one gold from Canadian Max Parrot in men’s slopestyle.
Olympic snowboarding schedule
- Feb. 5: Men’s big air qualification
- Feb. 7: Men’s big air final
- Feb. 8: Women’s and men’s parallel giant slalom; women’s big air qualification
- Feb. 9: Women’s big air final
- Feb. 11: Men’s and women’s halfpipe qualification
- Feb. 12: Men’s snowboard cross seeding runs through finals; women’s halfpipe final
- Feb. 13: Women’s snowboard cross seeding runs through finals; men’s halfpip final
- Feb. 15: Mixed team snowboard cross quarterfinals through finals
- Feb. 16: Women’s and men’s snowboard slopestyle qualification
- Feb. 17: Women’s slopestyle final
- Feb. 18: Men’s slopestyle final
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