Red Gerard’s long wait for X Games glory finally ended at XG Aspen 2024. After eight largely frustrating years, Gerard logged three great scores on his way to Slopestyle gold.
“The word ‘relief’ comes to mind,” Red says. “I’m really hoping to lock in another one.”
Though he’d won just about everything else in snowboarding — 2018 Olympic gold, four World Cups, two Dew Tour titles, a US Open — an X Games victory had proved elusive. His heavily hyped X Games debut in 2017 disappointed (14th), and his XG resume since featured three 4th-place finishes that were starting to drive him crazy. Even the bronze medal he nabbed in 2020 (his lone podium before 2024) bummed him out: Red saw it as one tiny bobble that kept him from gold.
Gerard says there were years when he disagreed with the X Games judges, years he blamed himself, years he left Aspen cursing and years he began believing that maybe he’d been cursed. “I’d been to so many X Games where I totally felt like I had the run and it just didn’t work out my way,” Red says. “It’s been an emotional roller coaster, for sure.”
When the scores came in at Aspen 2024 and Red realized he’d won, he unleashed a resounding “F**k yeah!” for the ages.
“It’ll definitely be different, coming back as the defending gold medalist,” Red says. X Games Aspen 2025, look out!
Categories: News & updates
Colin Bane 