Sports Illustrated - USA (2022-02)

RED GERARD says he
can handle “a tiny bit” of
pressure. He knows that now,
after his thrilling final run in
PyeongChang. Dead last, the
then 17-year-old turned in the
highest score in the slopestyle
competition—complete with a

backside triple cork 1440—to

become the youngest U.S. man

to take gold at a Winter Games

since 16-year-old bobsledder

Billy Fiske in 1928.

“Four years ago, I wasn’t

even sure if I wanted to

film snowboarding or do

contests,” Gerard says. That

uncertainty extended to just

two months before the 2018

Olympics. After qualifying,

he was more interested in

snowmobiling with his friends

than perfecting his runs for

PyeongChang, until a sit-down

with his parents at a Starbucks

clarified the significance of the

Olympic experience.

Despite becoming an

overnight sensation, Gerard

grades himself as “an F-

celebrity” who only recently

nailed down a consistent

autograph. He went on a

“crazy media tour” with his

gold medal, but now the

hardware sits in a fireproof bag

in his parents’ laundry room

in Silverthorne, Colo., along

with his seven siblings’ birth

certificates. Gerard still gets

nervous before every run—he

bends down to touch his board

for luck—but he has learned

to accept the unknown. “It’d

be really cool to get a second

medal,” he says, “but more

than that I want to go there

and embrace it all.”

After a come-from-behind, gold-medal-winning final run

in 2018, the 21-YEAR-OLD SLOPESTYLE STAR

is back for more—this time, with a fresh perspective

RED GERARD

SNOWBOARDING

BY TESS DMEYER

BEIJING WINTER OLYMPICS