Red Gerard on how being a part of Team USA helps him “turn the scary times into fun times”

At simply 25 years outdated, U.S. snowboarding standout Red Gerard is now thought of a veteran as he prepares to move out to the slopes at Milano Cortina 2026*.

The trailblazer is loving the chance to mirror on his Olympic journey, which began in PyeongChang 2018 when he turned the youngest snowboarder to win a title on the Games on the age of 17.

“I still feel young and I still feel really, really healthy,” Gerard says. “But it has been really cool being on Team USA since I was 13 or whatever… and now being one of the older athletes, being able to offer some wisdom to the younger athletes,” he mentioned in an interview with People.

The Ohio native, who’s famend for his slopestyle and large air abilities, has a deep appreciation for the game’s distinctive sense of neighborhood. He was impressed to pursue the game on the age of two by a few of his six siblings. 

“I find a lot of inspiration from just riding with my other teammates on Team USA,” he mentioned.

“I think we both do a really good job — in the off season when we’re at these training camps in Europe — at kind of pushing each other and going back and forth. And we turn the scary times into almost like fun times… We feed off each other.”

“One of the biggest misunderstood things is a lot of people think a lot of us clash out there. I can’t speak for halfpipe, but I can speak for slopestyle. That doesn’t really happen for us a lot there. That’s like one of the coolest things and I think it’s one of the most unique things.”

On his third Olympics, he added: “I simply attempt to inform myself when the Olympics are coming round, it is the identical as all the opposite competitions.

“It’s different. It’s on a bigger scale and a lot more people watching and all that. But when it actually comes down to the snowboarding, it’s the same exact thing. So if you can kind of put your blinders on and just worry about what you got to do and treat it the same as you have your whole life, that’s what I always try to do.”

*As National Olympic Committees have the unique authority for the illustration of their respective international locations on the Olympic Games, athletes’ participation on the Milano Cortina 2026 Games relies on their NOC choosing them to signify their delegation at Milano Cortina 2026.