Red Gerard performs a trick during the men's snowboard big air qualification during the Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022 on Feb. 14, 2022 in Beijing.
Three Americans showed plenty of heart on Valentine’s Day, riding safely through to the finals during the Olympic big air snowboarding qualifications Monday at Big Air Shougang in Beijing.
Red Gerard of Silverthorne, Colorado, the 2018 men’s slopestyle gold medalist, led the way for the U.S. men with a total score of 158.75 on his best two of three runs, putting him in third place. Gerard’s best effort of 80.00 came on his second run of the day.
“It went really good,” said the 21-year-old Gerard, competing in his second Games. “(I’m) super happy. I was able to land three of my three runs, and I was able to kind of lock in on that finals, I think, on that second run, and then to top it off in that third one, it was great.
“The jump’s riding really well. It’s a little icy, but yeah, I’m loving it.”
Chris Corning of the U.S., a 22-year-old from Arvada, Colorado, also advanced, placing 10th with a total score of 146.00. Corning finished just off the podium in fourth place in slopestyle in 2018 at PyeongChang.
Want to follow Team USA athletes during the Olympic Games Beijing 2022? Visit TeamUSA.org/Beijing-2022-Olympic-Games to view the competition schedule, medal table and results.
