American Alex Ferreira Takes Olympic Halfpipe Gold

Ahead of the Olympics, American skier Alex Ferreira had been honest about his goal: he wanted nothing less than halfpipe gold.

“I’ve seen it a million times in my head,” he told TIME. “I’ve spoken it into reality a million times through affirmation. I, Alex Ferreira, will be the 2026 gold medalist.”

With a previous Olympic bronze and silver, he only needed one more to complete the set. And on Friday, amid the hotly contested halfpipe final, he did.

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The pursuit of gold came down to the wire. 

Four Americans, including Ferreira, had a final chance to shoot for gold as they prepared for their third run.

Ferreira wasn’t in the top spot after the first two runs, sitting in second behind Estonia’s Henry Sildaru. Ferreira sped into the pipe, executing a flawless-looking, dizzying run with multiple doubles. Every time he landed, it seemed like he never left the snow. At the bottom, presumably knowing he had just laced one for the books, Ferreira twirled his ski pole in the air. The judges agreed, handing him a 93.75, the highest score of the night. 

Sildaru had a shot to usurp Ferreira, but came up just short. 

Then came the fellow American Nick Goepper, a strong gold contender. During his run, his tricks started clean. But on one of his hits, he appeared to miss his jump, colliding with the halfpipe’s deck hard before bouncing to the snow below.

Medics surrounded Goepper. Moments later, though, he was standing and smiling after being helped to his feet.

Ferreira, in the end, was joined on the podium by Sildaru and Canada’s Brendan Mackay, who took silver and bronze, respectively. Goepper narrowly missed the podium, placing fourth.

America’s Birk Irving took fifth. The last member of the American team in the finals, Hunter Hess, finished in tenth.

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