The 17-year-old snowboarder who won gold for the US woke up late on the day of the event and had to borrow his roommate's jacket
- 17-year-old snowboarder Red Gerard took home the first gold medal for the U.S. in the Winter Olympics.
- According to one report, Gerard woke up late on Saturday, then couldn't find his jacket, so he borrowed his roommate's.
- His day improved from there, as he used his nimble and creative style of snowboarding to wow judges and fans on the slope.
17-year-old Red Gerard took home gold in slopestyle snowboarding on Saturday, winning the first medal for the U.S. at the Winter Olympics.
However, Gerard's day didn't get off to such an auspicious beginning. According to Yahoo's Jeff Passan, Gerard fell asleep watching Netflix on Friday and was supposed to be up at 6am but didn't wake up on time.
His roommate, fellow Olympian snowboarder Kyle Mack, woke him up at 6:20am, at which point Gerard grabbed breakfast and then had to borrow his Mack's jacket because he couldn't find his own.
The morning didn't seem to bother Gerard, as he got to the event on time. Once on the course, Gerard wowed with his nimble, creative style of snowboarding, winning style points for his unique tricks and routes.
Gerard's older brother Brendan told Passan that Red was always going to be a special athlete.
"I can recall watching him fall down the hill at 2 years old and having him dragging ass behind me, being annoyed to have a little brother back there being all slow and not moving very quick," Brendan said. "Give him two weeks and he started moving faster. By the age of 6, it was inevitable he was going to be something huge."
Though Gerard's gold medal may have been spoiled a little early for viewers, he's nonetheless the surprise story the Olympics always delivers.