Norway's Birk Ruud denied American Alex Hall of a repeat gold medal Tuesday in a freeski slopestyle final that saw rail brilliance and bobbles at the 2026 Milan Cortina Winter Olympics in Italy.
The course's challenging rail section had many skiers attempting super progressive combos, creating a high-risk-high-reward situation — those who could hit the features clean were set up for big scores, while those who could not scrapped entire runs.
Ruud, the two-time reigning world champion, locked in early by laying down a statement first run (86.28) that included technical rails and dazzling airs: a switch rightside double cork 1800, a switch leftside double 1620 and a left nosebutter double 16. Hall came within about a half-point of that top score on his second run (85.75), putting down a picture-perfect rail section and solid jumps, but was unable to improve later on his third and final run.
"It was a tricky day," Hall said. "I knew I had to go all out. The talent's just so incredible among all the guys in the field. I knew it would take my best run that I could do.
"Whether it's gold, silver or bronze, I think I can assure you all the boys on the podium and everyone in the field is proud of themselves. I'm really proud of myself for the silver."
Luca Harrington, January's Winter X Games champion, threw down a clutch third run featuring a pull-back 1440 to 1260 on the last jump to vault into the bronze medal spot.
"Just standing at the top [of the slope] and realizing where I was today … representing my country of New Zealand, representing my family, wearing an Olympic bib in the finals. … That was such a special moment, to be up there, in itself," he said.
Afterward, the 21-year-old's teammates — including his own brother Ben Harrington — honored him with a haka, just like snowboarding teammate Zoi Sadowski-Synnott received the night before after landing silver in big air. The dance, a fierce, chanting performance of challenge, is of great cultural importance to New Zealanders.
About half of all runs were abandoned after miscues on the rail section. Hall called it "probably the hardest rail course I've ever skies, and I think a lot of us have ever skied."
"It’s a recipe for a lot of runs not being quite perfect," he said. "As well as everyone being so good, I think everyone came into today thinking the other 12 dudes … are so good, I’m going to have to try my hardest possible run."
Also contributing to the difficulty was the light factor. Beijing bronze medalist Jesper Tjader of Sweden, who finished 5th, said he had a bigger run planned but had to switch it up.
"When the sky is the same color as the snow, it gets disorientating," he said. "You're not sure how far away from the ground you are and what the snow is really like. Sometimes you can think the sky is the ground and it really messes you up with your tricks."
The skiers had an extra day of training during which Ruud crashed and had to sit out three laps. Ruud said given the tough conditions expected, he tried to plan and give himself a bit of slack going into the finals. "I guess that was a good play," he said.
Ruud now has two Olympic golds — he is the defending champion in big air from 2022. The 25-year-old lost his father to cancer in 2021. As he did after his Beijing gold, Ruud honored his memory:
"My dad is watching from somewhere else. When we played the national anthem, I was thinking of him and just everything that happens in life, and suddenly now I'm here, which is something I was working hard towards."
Hall's teammates Konnor Ralph and Mac Forehand finished 9th and 11th, respectively. The trio all finished top 10 in Saturday's qualifying. Ruud's teammate Tormod Frostad, the No. 2 qualifier, placed 12th.
The U.S. has now won seven of 12 medals in the event's history. Ruud and Hall's finish matches the 1-2 Norway-U.S. result from 2018 when Oystein Braten and Nick Goepper — who's now competing in halfpipe — took gold and silver.
Men's Freeski Slopestyle Final
🥇 Birk Ruud, Norway (86.28)
🥈 Alex Hall, United States (85.75)
🥉 Luca Harrington, New Zealand (85.15)
4. Andri Ragettli, Switzerland (78.65)
5. Jesper Tjader, Sweden (77.21)
6. Sebastian Schjerve, Norway (76.20)
7. Matej Svancer, Austria (73.71)
8. Ben Barclay, New Zealand (69.40)
9. Konnor Ralph, United States (66.76)
10. Kim Gubser, Switzerland (57.68)
11. Mac Forehand, United States (55.93)
12. Tormod Frostad, Norway (42.51)