Slopestyle, Men

PyeongChang 2018 was just the second time that slopestyle, one of the most high-flying, entertaining events of the Olympic Winter Games, had been on the Olympic programme, having made its debut in Sochi in 2014.

Canada and Norway were considered the “superpowers” of the men’s slopestyle with their sights on the Olympic podium. Just 11 months prior to the start of PyeongChang 2018, the World and Olympic medalist, and 15-time Winter X Games medalist Canada’s Mark McMorris, was in a medically induced coma after a horrifying backcountry snowboarding crash, with a jaw fracture, left arm fracture, ruptured spleen, stable pelvic fracture, rib fractures and a collapsed left lung. The 18-year old Norwegian Marcus Kleveland, X-Games champion, was prepared to throw his signature quad cork 1800 to get on the podium.

In the qualifying round, Canada and Norway both qualified their full roster of four riders for the final but X-Games medalist Norwegian Mons Røisland, who was a possible medalist, broke a chest bone and tore ligaments in a crash during practice, which made him unable to compete.

It was the underdog American, 17-year-old Red Gerard, who had won the 2017 World Cup, who came back came after a shaky run in the first heat of the finals. His final run saw him using features of the course that were ignored by other riders, and on his second jump he did a double cork off the quarterpipe takeoff, instead of using the kicker that most riders were using. Gerard landed a perfect backside triple cork 1440 on the final jump earning a score of 87.16 points to capture the gold medal. Gerard, who grew up with a terrain park in his Colorado backyard, won America’s first gold of the PyeongChang Games and was the youngest American Olympic snowboarding medalist ever. It was the second-straight Winter Olympics where the United States first medal came in the men’s snowboard slopestyle, and like fours years prior, it was an upset when Sage Kotsenburg was the first Olympic men’s slopestyle snowboarding champion.

Canada’s Max Parrot came back from behind to land in the silver medal winning position after falling during his first two runs of the finals. His teammate McMorris, against all odds, captured his second career Olympic bronze medal. The Canadian men won Canada’s first two medals of the 2018 Olympic Winter Games.