American freeskier Alex Ferreira won the men’s halfpipe final at the Milano Cortina Winter Games on Friday to complete his collection of Olympic medals.
The 31-year-old Ferreira won with a third and final run worth 93.75 points, adding the gold medal to his silver from Pyeongchang in 2018 and bronze from Beijing in 2022.
The Colorado native delivered Team USA their first gold medal in nearly two weeks of freeski or snowboard at the Livigno snow park.
Estonia’s 19-year-old Henry Sildaru captured the silver in his first Olympics. His third run was just 0.75 points off Ferreira’s mark.
Brendan Mackay of Canada took the bronze, nudging American Nick Goepper off the podium on the last run of the 11-man final.
Ferreira twirled a pole above his head with a flourish upon finishing his medal-clinching run. He then had to watch his final rivals take their last shot before each came up short.
Goepper was going for a career fourth Olympic medal, only for Mackay to edge him for third place. The 31-year-old Goepper had switched to halfpipe for this Olympic cycle after winning two silvers and a bronze in slopestyle in the previous three Games.
Goepper gave the crowd a scare on his final run when he smashed into the deck. But he was up in a few moments and appeared to be unhurt.
Lee Seunghun of South Korea did not compete in the final after he crashed making a warmup run.
The finalists also competed in the morning for qualifying, which was pushed back to Friday because of heavy snow in the Italian Alps.
Reigning world champion Finley Melville Ives of New Zealand missed the final after crashing during both of his qualifying runs.
In freeski halfpipe, as in snowboarding, competitors take turns zooming up and down the curved surface and launching into a series of acrobatic leaps that are scored for their difficulty and execution. Only their best of three runs counted.
The halfpipe at the Livigno ski resort hosting these Olympic events measures 220m (240yds) in length, 22m (24yds) in width, and rises to 7.2m (23.6ft) in height.
American Elizabeth Lemley won gold in women’s moguls freeski at the Winter Games, but the moguls events are held at a separate venue in Livigno. The Livigno snow park hosts the halfpipe, slopestyle and big air events for freeski and snowboarding.
