American Alex Hall Wins Silver Medal in Olympic Ski Slopestyle
Another Olympics, another slopestyle medal for the American Alex Hall.
This time, he grabbed silver, having been beaten out by Norway’s Birk Ruud amid a stacked field of skiers. Hall won the gold medal in Olympic slopestyle at the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics.
In true Hall fashion, his silver medal run opened with a technical rail section, followed by a dizzying series of jumps.
Among freeskiing fans, Hall’s known for his MAGMA video series, which tracks him and fellow Olympian Hunter Hess as they slide rails in city streets and hit looming jumps in the backcountry. Unsurprisingly, those skills translate to the Olympic course.
“I wasn't sure I could do the run. I never got it in practice, like altogether, especially on the rails. I was trying such a hard rail run. Definitely the best rail run I've ever done,” said Hall, per FIS.
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The second-place finish comes on the heels of Hall’s Olympic gold win in the same discipline four years ago in China. Hall, who reportedly stashes that gold in his sock drawer, now has another piece of hardware to add to the collection. It joins a slew of medals he’s won in the X Games, another of freeskiing’s biggest events.
Ruud’s winning run, a clean outing under a grey Italian sky, came early. He nabbed a score of 86.28, leading for the rest of the day. It was his second Olympic gold medal, following a big air win at the 2022 Winter Games.
“It was kind of the last piece to the collection, with Big Air and Slopestyle,” he said, per FIS. “It's a beautiful feeling and a special moment. I'll try to take it in. It's incredibly special to take gold in Slopestyle. It's once every four years, and the fact it worked is almost indescribable.”
Photo: Patrick Smith/Getty Images
Luca Harrington, a first-time Olympian from New Zealand, rounded out the slopestyle podium.
“It’s pretty crazy to be finally living this dream as a reality. This has been one of my lifelong goals, and it’s absolutely surreal to be here in Italy wearing an Olympic bib,” he wrote in an Instagram post days before the event.
Now, Harrington will be heading home with more than just fond memories.