The balance of power in men’s freeski slopestyle shifted again in Livigno, and it leaned hard toward Norway. Birk Ruud, the sport’s top-ranked slopestyle freeskier, produced a statement run early in the final and never let go of the lead, taking Olympic gold and prying the title away from defending champion Alex Hall.
Ruud’s opening effort was the kind of “set the bar and dare everyone else to reach it” performance that slopestyle finals are built around. He attacked the course from the first rail feature, kept his speed through the technical sections, and carried enough height and control into the jumps to post a score of 86.28. It was the best number of the day and, crucially, it arrived before anyone else had time to find comfort on the course.
Hall, who entered these Games as the man to beat after winning gold in the previous Olympic cycle, looked briefly capable of dragging the contest back into a duel. After what many considered a conservative first run by his standards, the American tightened his execution on his second attempt. The result was a cleaner, bigger pass that earned 85.75, narrowing the gap to Ruud to a fraction and setting up a final attempt that demanded something close to the best run of his career.
But slopestyle is unforgiving when the margins are this thin. On his third try, Hall misjudged the first rail and crashed, landing on his backside and wiping out any chance of a late steal. The silver medal still keeps him among the sport’s Olympic heavyweights, yet the failed final run also underlined how quickly the men’s slopestyle landscape is evolving.
For Team USA, the day carried a familiar headline — another medal — but also an uncomfortable subtext: this is no longer an event the Americans can assume they will dominate. Since freeski slopestyle was added to the Olympic programme in 2018, the U.S. had claimed six of the previous nine medals available. In Livigno, the American depth did not translate into a full-team surge up the standings.
Konnor Ralph finished ninth in his Olympic debut, a respectable result in an increasingly stacked field but short of the standard the U.S. program has set in past cycles. Mac Forehand, who arrived with genuine podium hopes, endured a bruising final. He failed to navigate the first rail on his opening run, a mistake that immediately put him into catch-up mode. Forehand managed to get a second attempt down, but more rail trouble on the final try left him 11th and never truly in the medal conversation.
Ruud’s gold felt less like an upset and more like the natural endpoint of a multi-year rise. He won Olympic gold in big air in Beijing four years ago and then expanded his slopestyle toolkit into one of the most complete arsenals in the sport. Over the last four years he has won seven World Cup titles, and he arrived in Italy with World Championship titles from 2023 and 2025 adding weight to the expectation that he could deliver on the biggest stage.
The wider takeaway is that men’s freeski slopestyle is now a true global contest. Europe continues to produce technical innovators and high-pressure performers, and athletes from outside the traditional power centres are increasingly capable of landing on the podium, as Harrington’s bronze for New Zealand reinforced. The U.S. remains dangerous and deep, but in Livigno it looked like a team that needs everything to click, not one that can rely on history to do the heavy lifting.
Ruud didn’t just win the gold medal. He made a claim on the era. And as the sport keeps pushing forward, the message from Livigno was clear: the crown is there to be taken, and the margins are too small for anyone to coast. You can find official event coverage and updates via Olympics.com.
Note: Scores and placements reflect the men’s freeski slopestyle final held in Livigno on Feb. 10, 2026.
