Red Gerard wins USA’s first gold medal in the most “teenager” way possible
On the day of his event, this 17-year-old snowboarder overslept due to a night of Netflix binge-watching, lost his jacket and spit out the “F”-word on live television. Yet despite embodying the average American teenager, Gerard won USA’s first gold medal in the 2018 Olympics. At first, it seemed as though Gerard’s irresponsible actions had gotten the best of him as he failed to complete his first two slopestyle runs without falling. However, Gerard was able to fight back his anxieties and nailed his final run, becoming the youngest American man to win a Winter Games gold medal since 1928.
America’s favorite, Chloe Kim, delivers in a historic performance
Entering the PyeongChang Olympics, the expectations for 17-year-old snowboarding prodigy Chloe Kim could not have been any higher. As a record-breaking champion in the US X Games, Kim was expected to provide the same type of results in this year’s Olympics. In spite of all the pressures Kim faced coming into the games, she delivered and earned her first Olympic gold medal in the Women’s Snowboard Halfpipe. Kim crushed it on her first run, setting the bar for the competition, and by her second run, she had already secured a gold medal. But instead of leisurely enjoying her victory lap, Kim turned her victory round into an explosive finish by pulling out the biggest trick in her bag: back-to-back 1080s. When asked what led her to such an amazing finish, Kim said, “I was like tearing up [before my final run] and wanted to cry, but I just knew I wasn’t going to be happy, even if I went home with the gold if I knew I could do better. So that third run was really just to prove to myself that I deserved it and did everything I could. I’m so happy.” Kim’s gold medal has made her, at age 17, the youngest female medalist in Olympic snowboarding history.
Shaun White avenges his Sochi performance
Shaun White, the fallen Olympic star, came back to PyeongChang determined to avenge his devastating loss in the 2014 Sochi Olympics and to reclaim his title as the snowboarding champion. Despite many personal conflicts, the legendary snowboarder pushed these thoughts aside as he began his halfpipe performance. White stunned the world as he pulled up back-to-back 1440s in a flawless final pipe run to earn a high score. Shaun White earned his redeeming gold medal in the Men’s Snowboard Halfpipe, winning the US’s 100th all-time Olympic gold medal.