US skier Alex Ferreira wins gold medal in men’s free ski halfpipe to end Olympic career

American Alex Ferreira took home a gold medal in the Olympic freestyle skiing men’s free ski halfpipe on Friday at the Livigno Snow Park. 

Ferreira, 31, scored a 93.75 on his final run and narrowly edged out Estonia’s Henry Sildaru, who scored a 93.00, to secure the top spot on the podium for the first time in his career. Canada’s Brendan Mackay earned a bronze medal, scoring a 91.00 in his final run to knock American Nick Goepper off the podium. 

Ferreira won a silver in this event in the 2018 Pyeongchang Olympic Games and a bronze medal in the 2022 Beijing Olympics. The Colorado native said that these Olympic Games were likely to be his last one, according to Olympics.com.

Now he will head back home with his first-ever gold medal. 

Ferreira has made 16 World Cup podiums and won seven X Games medals. In 2023-24, he won every contest he entered and became the first halfpipe skier to have a perfect season.

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Ferreira was nearly joined by Goepper on the podium, but Goepper’s quest for a medal was halted after a harrowing crash, giving Mackay a chance to reach the podium.

Goepper finished fourth, and American Birk Irving finished fifth. 

American Hunter Hess, who was criticized by President Donald Trump following Hess’s controversial remarks about representing the United States at the Olympics under the current administration, did not place and finished in 10th. 

Ferreira’s gold medal was the 10th for the United States in the Milan Cortina Olympic Games, tying an American Winter Olympics record for most gold medals won. The United States won 10 gold medals in the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympic Games. 

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