Alex Hall wasted no time setting a high bar in the men’s freeski slopestyle event.
As the seventh skier to hit the slopes, the 23-year-old American earned a 90.01 score in his opening run at the Genting Snow Park on Tuesday.
Hall completed a 1620 on his first jump before nailing a combination in the second jump stage. He capped the run off with a pull-back air “pretzel” move, stopping his final rotation as he landed backward. The judges rewarded his ingenuity with what ended up being the best score of the day.
Hall kept things going in his second run, as well. He earned an 86.38, which was the third-best mark of the finals.
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The victory gives Hall his first Olympic gold medal. He had some momentum coming into Beijing, though, winning slopestyle bronze at the 2021 world championships and 2022 X Games, the last two major competitions leading into the Olympics.
Hall wasn’t the only American to stand atop the slopestyle podium. Nick Goepper medaled for the third straight Olympics, adding another silver to his collection with a top score of 86.48 in his second run.
