In a comeback for the ages, Rocky River native Red Gerard has won the gold medal in men's Olympic slopestyle snowboarding.
The 17-year-old struggled in his first two runs, falling down towards the end and appearing to be clutching his back. However, an incredible performance on his third try with multiple 1080-plus-degree spins vaulted him into first place with a score of 87.16, causing the crowd (which included much of his family) to erupt into a frenzy.
Gerard still had to wait as Canadian heavyweights Mark McMorris and Max Parrot took their final runs, but McMorris fell down on his last attempt, and while Parrot closed out with a great run of his own, his score of 86.00 fell just short, giving him the silver. McMorris took the bronze after his second run gave him an 85.20.
Although he currently lives in Silverthorne, Colorado, Gerard still has family and friends in Northeast Ohio. Many of them were gathered in Rocky River to cheer Red on, and predictably, they went nuts when he took the gold.
With the win, Gerard is the youngest American ever to win an Olympic medal in snowboarding. He was also the only competitor from the United States to make the finals of men's slopestyle, and the first American to take gold at these Winter Olympics.
Gerard still has one more event: Big Air. He has, however, admitted slopestyle is his stronger event.