Halfpipe, Men

The event was being held at the Winter Olympics for the fourth time, having been dominated by American and New Zealand skiers. David Wise (USA) had won gold in 2014-18 and silver in 2022, but he was not on the USA team, while Alex Ferreira won bronze in 2022 and silver in 2018, and he was back. At the World Championships the Americans and Kiwis had won 6 of the 10 gold medals and six of the last seven, and they had won all four World Cups in the 2025/26 season.

The favorite was consistent New Zealander Finley Melville Ives, the 2025 World Champion who had won two World Cup events and a silver in the current season, but he had a disastrous qualifying, falling on both runs, and finishing 24th of 25 skiers.

Canada’s Brendan Mackay led the qualifying, with the USA getting four of the next five spots with Ferreira, Nick Goepper, Hunter Hess, and Birk Irving, joined in the top six by Estonian Henry Sildaru. Also moving on was Britain’s Gus Kenworthy, silver medalist in the event in 2014 when he competed for the United States.

Round one of the final saw most skiers struggle as only two received more than 50 points for their run, as Canada’s Andrew Longino led at 76.50, followed by New Zealand’s Ben Harrington at 61.25. Neither score was expected to be enough for a medal.

In round two Sildaru took the lead with 92.75 points, with Ferreira moving into second with 90.50, followed by Goepper with 89.00. Sildaru improved on the final run to 93.00 points, but Ferreira outdid him with 93.75 to take the gold medal. Mackay was only in ninth after two runs but came through with 91.00 to claim bronze.

The victory gave Ferreira a full set of medals in the event. Sildaru’s silver medal was the first in freestyle skiing by an Estonian man, and the second ever in the sport for the country, after his sister Kelly Sildaru had won bronze in 2022 slopestyle.