Red Gerard: From Olympic Gold to Milano Cortina—and Staying ‘F-Minus’ Famous

At the 2018 PyeongChang Olympics, American snowboarder Red Gerard had his moment. He was just 17, a kid who grew up in the suburbs of Cleveland before his big extended family moved west to Colorado for better access to the outdoors; his dramatic victory in the slopestyle snowboarding competition gave the U.S. Its first gold medal of those Games and made Gerard the youngest Olympic snowboarding gold medalist ever. His family chugged beers in celebration; the media ate up his tale of sleeping through his alarm the morning of his win, after staying up late to binge-watch the sitcom Brooklyn Nine-Nine. He hit the bicoastal victory circuit, making appearances on Jimmy Kimmel Live! and Live With Kelly and Ryan.

“The next six months were such a fun and cool time for me, going on all the talk shows and meeting cool people, and just kind of seeing a little bit of how a celebrity lives,” says Gerard, 25, today. “But for me, it was more like an F-minus celebrity.” Not that he’s complaining. “F-minus is fine,” he says “I’m all right. No one wants to be an A-list celebrity. That looks like too much work.”

Gerard—who made a cameo on Top Chef in June—may not overconcern himself with the perks of stardom. But that Olympic win eight years ago does leave him wanting more. “It gave me a perspective on snowboarding that I didn’t necessarily have before,” he says. “Once you get that first win, it kind of jump-starts that competitiveness in you.” While Gerard considered pulling out of the Beijing Games due to COVID protocols, he won back-to-back X Games slopestyle golds in 2024 and 2025 and took bronze this year. Now, at 25, he’s poised for another dazzling performance at the 2026 Milan Cortina Games, potentially taking up Shaun White’s mantle as the face of American men’s snowboarding.

Born on June 29, 2000, in Cleveland, Ohio, Gerard moved with his family to Silverthorne, Colorado, when he was seven. Inspired by his older siblings, he hit the slopes for the first time at age two. The Gerard family even built a snowboard park in their backyard to help Red continue to train. He made his professional debut at 15, finishing 5th in his Dew Tour and Burton U.S. Open debuts, earning his spot on the U.S. Snowboard slopestyle team. His surprise gold medal in PyeongChang launched him to global stardom.

Gerard primarily competes in slopestyle, though he also enters big air events. Because Olympic qualification for slopestyle and big air are linked, he’ll compete in both at the Milan Cortina Games. He’ll begin with Big Air qualifying runs on February 5, with the final on February 7, and then move to slopestyle qualifying runs on February 16, culminating in the final on February 18.

He draws inspiration from his family, especially his sister Tieghan Gerard, founder of the food blog “Half-Baked Harvest,” and a notable social media influencer. Tieghan’s Instagram following (5.4 million) significantly surpasses that of Eileen Gu (2.1 million), Chloe Kim (1 million), and even Red himself (266K).

“Just put your head down, do the work,” Gerard says, relaying what he’s learned from Tieghan. “The trips that you don’t necessarily want to go on, the stuff you don’t really want to do, that’s just part of the gig.”

Tieghan notes that Red is “so dialed in,” more so than ever before. She also reveals he can make good avocado and eggs—a.k.a. The breakfast of champions for a snowboarder.

Despite the increased attention surrounding the Milano Cortina Games, Gerard doesn’t plan on altering his routine. “I try not to get too serious the night before a contest,” he says. “It really helps me to sit back and play a card game with my friends or go have a beer with my brother. Something to get my head off of what’s going to happen tomorrow.”

While slopestyle snowboarding is a judged event, Gerard wants his speed to stand out. “It’s not necessary in our sport to get down the hill the fastest,” he says. “I do think if that was a side-bet contest, I would be up there for one of the quicker snowboarders to get down the slopestyle course. I love when people snowboard fast and it looks almost a touch out of control. That’s what I like to watch.” Speed, he believes, builds amplitude—height off a jump—a key component for Olympic gold.

“I definitely feel like I’m snowboarding better than I ever have,” says Gerard. “I do like my chances, better than ever.” And, as he puts it, the B-list suits him just fine.