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.
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American snowboarder Red Gerard finished sixth in the men’s slopestyle in the Feb. 18 Winter Games final.
Gerard finished 11th out of 12 riders to advance out of the 30-man qualifying field on Feb. 15 at Livigno (Italy) Snow Park.
American Jake Canter, who was in a coma at 13, entered his final run in 10th, then rocketed to the podium with the bronze.
China’s Su Yiming won his second Olympic gold medal and Japan’s Taiga Hasegawa took silver.
Who is Red Gerard?
Gerard, 26, is from Rocky River, Ohio. He has seven siblings — five brothers and two sisters — that inspired him to begin snowboarding as early as age 2. His family relocated to Silverthorne, Colorado, and built a snowboard park in their backyard. It has a rope tow.
According to Team USA, he is 5-foot-5.
How many Olympic medals does Red Gerard have?
Gerard made his Winter Olympics debut in Pyeongchang in 2018 at age 17, becoming the youngest Olympic snowboarding champion with a gold medal win in slopestyle.
He overslept after binge-watching “Brooklyn Nine-Nine” and borrowed his roommate’s jacket.
How many Olympics has Red Gerard been to?
Gerard has competed in two previous Winter Games. He narrowly missed the podium in Beijing in 2022 with a fourth-place slopestyle finish and fifth-place big air finish. He’s the two-time reigning X Games champion at slopestyle.
He failed to qualify at this year’s Olympics for the big air final. He finished 20th out of 30 competitors.
“Honestly, I don’t understand why we’re forced to do this,” he said. “I don’t like to do this. It’s not what I enjoy doing. There’s no flow to it. It’s a little frustrating.”
Contributing: Cydney Henderson, Gentry Estes
