American freeskier Alex Ferreira won the men’s halfpipe final at the Milano Cortina Winter Games on Friday to complete his collection of Olympic medals.
The 31-year-old Ferreira won with a third and final run worth 93.75 points, adding the gold medal to his silver from Pyeongchang in 2018 and bronze from Beijing in 2022.
The Colorado native delivered Team USA their first gold medal in nearly two weeks of freeski or snowboard at the Livigno Snow Park.
“I’m going to drink copious amounts of beer,” Ferreira said when asked how he would celebrate.
Estonia’s 19-year-old Henry Sildaru captured the silver in his first Olympics. His third run was just 0.75 points off Ferreira’s mark.
Brendan Mackay of Canada took the bronze, nudging American Nick Goepper off the podium on the last run of the 11-man final.
When Mackay’s mark came up, Ferreira bent to one knee and flashed a smile that lit up the mountain.
“Best moment of my life,” he said.
Asked what the best thing about the new gold medalist was, Mackay said there was too much to list.
“But honestly, the biggest thing that stands out about Alex, is that he is just an incredibly nice guy,” he said.
Goepper was going for a career fourth Olympic medal, only for Mackay to edge him for third place. The 31-year-old Goepper had switched to halfpipe for this Olympic cycle after winning two silvers and a bronze in slopestyle in the previous three Games.
Alex Ferreira completes his second run of Friday’s final. Photograph: Marko Đurica/Reuters
Goepper gave the crowd a scare on his final run when he smashed into the deck. But he was up in a few moments and appeared to be unhurt.
Lee Seunghun of South Korea did not compete in the final after he crashed making a warmup run.
When Ferreira’s skis smacked down lightly on the fifth of five butter-smooth landings in the contest winner, he started whipping around his right ski pole – his signature move in what now goes down as his signature win.
A few minutes later, his sisters and parents were crying and he was on the top step of the podium, singing out loud as the Star-Spangled Banner played for the first time at the Livigno Snow Park.
He used to be the best freeskier in the world without an Olympic title. Not any more.
“He had the silver, the bronze and he needed the gold,” said Alex’s mother, Colleen Ferreira. “He was driven. A year ago, he said he was going to do this, and he did it.”
In freeski halfpipe, as in snowboarding, competitors take turns zooming up and down the curved surface and launching into a series of acrobatic leaps that are scored for their difficulty and execution. Only their best of three runs counted.
The halfpipe at the Livigno ski resort hosting these Olympic events measures 220m (240yds) in length, 22m (24yds) in width, and rises to 7.2m (23.6ft) in height.
American Elizabeth Lemley won gold in women’s moguls freeski at the Winter Games, but the moguls events are held at a separate venue in Livigno. The Livigno snow park hosts the halfpipe, slopestyle and big air events for freeski and snowboarding.
