Red Gerard is gearing up to potentially add another Olympic medal to Team USA’s collection as he competes today.
The snowboarder experienced an unexpected triumph when he clinched his first medal, a gold, during the 2018 Pyeongchang Olympics.
At just 17 years old, Gerard had spent the evening before the decisive slopestyle final watching Brooklyn Nine-Nine on Netflix with a friend, as detailed by the New York Times.
He ended up oversleeping and had to rush to make it to his event.
In spite of the hurried start, Gerard impressively leapt from 11th place to secure first in his final run, winning gold by a significant margin.
“It was awesome,” Gerard said, marking the moment he became the youngest American to capture a snowboarding gold medal.
“I just told myself that I wanted to land a run, and I was a little bummed on my first two runs because I fell a couple of times.
“I’m just so happy that it all worked out.”
Returning for the 2022 Beijing Olympics, Gerard narrowly missed the podium, finishing in fourth place.
He has now qualified for the slopestyle finals in the 2026 Milano Cortina Winter Olympics, with hopes of capturing another medal.
Gerard qualified in 11th place out of 12 for the finals. Perhaps history could repeat itself, like in 2018?
He will be up against Canada’s Mark McMorris, a seasoned competitor with three Olympic medals, who took bronze in 2018, as well as New Zealand’s 20-year-old Dane Menzies, Norway’s Marcus Kleveland, and China’s Su Yiming.
Gerard began snowboarding when he was around two years old and has since accumulated experience in major competitions like the X Games and World Cup circuits, where he has frequently reached the podium.
The men’s final is scheduled to take place this morning (Wednesday, February 18) from 5.20 to 6.50 am ET.
The event will be held at Livigno Snow Park, Valtellina, in Milan, Italy.
Viewers can catch the action on the USA Network and Peacock.
As of the current standings, Team USA has secured 21 medals at the Milano Cortina Olympic Games, placing them third overall.
Of these, ten are silver, six are gold, and five are bronze.
Norway is leading the medal tally with a total of 31 medals, including 14 golds, 8 silvers, and 9 bronzes.
The host country, Italy, is in second place, having earned 24 medals overall (9 gold, 4 silver, 11 bronze), thanks to solid performances in sliding and skating events.