LIVIGNO, Italy ― Freestyle skier Birk Ruud of Norway claimed the gold medal in the men’s slopestyle event on Tuesday after an impeccable first run on a course that befuddled many of his competitors at the Milano Cortina Winter Olympics.
Alex Hall, the gold medalist four years ago in Beijing, won silver under cloudy skies on the slopes in the Alpine mountain town of Livigno. His feat extended Team USA’s remarkable medal streak in slopestyle over the years.
Luca Harrington of New Zealand, one of the younger competitors at age 21, claimed bronze in the contest, which forces skiers to slide across rails and perform aerial tricks to impress the judges with difficulty and originality. The best score from each skier’s three runs determines the rankings.
Much of the field struggled from the start, with eight of the 12 skiers falling in the first round.
Ruud, however, put down a superb first run that lifted him to the top of the leaderboard. Hall tried to catch him but only slipped further backward after coming off a rail on his third attempt
