The family of 17-year-old Red Gerard, the first gold medalist for the US at the Winter Olympics, was shotgunning beers ahead of his winning run

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February 12, 2018 3:57 PM

17-year-old Red Gerard won gold in men's snowboarding slopestyle.

17-year-old Red Gerard won gold in men's snowboarding slopestyle, giving the United States its first medal of the
When the competition was over, Gerard revealed that his family had been partying all day in anticipation of his gold medal run.
Gerard will have a chance to win another medal in the big air competition.

Red Gerard, the 17-year-old, gold-medal-winning, snowboarder, has had himself quite a week.

On his third and final run in men's snowboarding slopestyle, Gerard threw down a near-perfect run that rocketed him into first place, winning gold and giving the United States its first medal of the 2018 Winter Games.

Before he even hit the mountain, Gerard had been dealing with a stressful day, having overslept the morning of his gold medal run, and even having to borrow a friend's jacket because he couldn't find his own.

But while Gerard stressed over making it to his morning run on time, his extended family seemed to be having a ball at the Winter Games. According to Gerard, he received a Snapchat from his family at 8:30 a.m. that morning, with the entire Gerard clan shotgunning beers in preparation for his run.

Red Gerard said he got a Sn... @ USA TODAY Sports

Gerard had plenty of supporters outside of his family as well. Back in his hometown of Rocky River, Colorado, friends and fans cheered on his gold medal run.

Incredible! The reaction fr... @ Amani Abraham

Gerard may have already won Olympic gold, but his time in Pyeongchang is not over yet — he'll be back in action next week competing in the first ever big air competition, with the chance to become just the second snowboarder to win two medals at the same Olympics.

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