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Show D-6 Wed/Thurs/Fri, February 14-16, 2018 » GERARD IS GOLDEN 17-year-old snowboarder takes starring turn in South Korea JOEL REICHENBERGER STEAMBOAT PILOT AND TODAY B OKWANG PHOENIX PARK, South Korea — Snowboarding is not about the Olympics for Red Gerard. It’s about barbecues with friends while they grind the rails in his backyard, about days in the backcountry filming big drops and powdery turns. He likes the competitions too, he said, in part because he loves hanging out at the pre-event practices. Still, the world’s eyes turned to him Sunday at Bokwang Phoenix Park in South Korea. He’d just landed his run, throwing up his arms as he skidded to a big spraying stop at the bottom of the Olympic snowboard slopestyle course at the 2018 Winter Olympics. It was a good one, but he had to wait, wait to see how it would hold up with the best riders in the world coming down after him. He sat down on the snow and looked up at the screen broadcasting the action from higher on the course. He tucked his head in his hands. Then he stood up and put his hands over his head. JOEL REICHENBERGER/STEAMBOAT PILOT AND TODAY Red Gerard celebrates after winning a gold medal on Sunday, Feb. 11, in the men’s snowboard slopestyle event at the 2018 Winter Olympics. He walked into the finish area and hugged coaches and high fived fellow competitors, then he was back in front of the screen, waiting and watching, sitting and standing as time drug on. competitor, Canada’s Max Parrot, laid down a solid run, extending the drama to the very last second, but his score came in at 86.00, second place behind Gerard’s 87.16. Finally, the moment came. The last Snowboarding may not be about the SUPPORT UTAH’S OLYMPIC LEGACY At Utah’s world-class Olympic venues, people of all ages and abilities watch, learn and compete in winter sport. The Utah Olympic Legacy Foundation’s dedication to these facilities makes that happen! JOIN OUR TEAM AND HELP US IN THAT MISSION BY DONATING TODAY! UTAH OLYMPIC PARK PARK CITY, UTAH UTAH OLYMPIC OVAL KEARNS, UTAH SOLDIER HOLLOW NORDIC CENTER MIDWAY, UTAH Olympics for Gerard, but now he’ll always be a part of snowboarding at the Olympics. withstood three of the world’s best and when it was over, he was the gold medalist, the Olympic champion. The diminutive backyard phenom from Silverthorne, Colorado, landed his third and final run in the slopestyle finals, he “It’s a little hard to believe, for sure,” he Continued on D-7 » |