American Hall wins freeski slopestyle Olympic gold

Zhangjiakou, China, 16 Feb  - Alexander Hall of the United States won the men's freeski slopestyle gold at the Beijing Olympics on Wednesday, taking the title ahead of countryman Nick Goepper.

Hall claimed the lead with a first-run score of 90.01 and that was good enough to keep him there for the rest of the competition.

Goepper, who took bronze in the event at the 2014 Sochi Olympics and silver four years later in Pyeongchang, was second on 86.48.

Sweden's Jesper Tjader won bronze on 85.35.

Switzerland's Andri Ragettli, the silver medallist in 2018, finished fourth while Norway's Birk Ruud -- who won gold in last week's freeski Big Air competition -- was fifth.