Gerard clinches US’ first gold

PyeongChang : American teenager Red Gerard claimed gold in the men’s slope style with a sensational final run at the Phoenix Snow Park in PyeongChang.

The 17 year-old did not have the best of starts when he made errors on his first two runs but he delivered when it counted most as he produced a flawless combination of a 1080 spin, a 1260 and a backside triple cork to record the winning score of 87.16.

Gerard waited nervously as Canada’s Max Parrot delivered an impressive last run but it was only good enough for silver as the judges awarded Parrot second place with an 86.00 score.

The youngster also pushed back one of the event favourites Mark McMorris, a seven-time X Games gold medallist into third as he could only manage to score a run worth 85.20.

Gerard dropped to his knees in disbelief as he was officially announced as Team USA’s first gold medallist of PyeongChang 2018.