American Wins First Sochi Gold

20-year-old Park City, Utah-native Sage Kotsenburg earned the first gold medal of the 2014 Sochi Olympics in men’s slopestyle—the same even that Shaun White pulled out of earlier this week, citing the potential risk of injury. Kotsenburg won with a total of 93.50 points. Staale Sandbech of Norway came in second place and Mark McMorris of Canada earned bronze. Kotsenburg, who was a penchant for staying chilled-out under pressure, told reporters after the semifinals, “I really want to medal just as much as the next guy, but my attitude in the run, if I land, that’s cool. If not, I need to try harder obviously. That’s just how I snowboard.”