American Red Gerard has become the youngest Olympian to medal in a snowboarding event at the age of 17.

The youngster, ranked 11th out of 12 finalists in the men's slopestyle, scored 87.16 on his final run to win the gold medal, beating Canadians Max Parrot and Mark McMorris, who scored 86.00 and 85.20 respectively.

Gerard told The Guardian about his "crazy" victory, which made him the second-youngest man to win gold in an individual event at the Winter Olympics.

"[It's] crazy, to be honest," the snowboarder said after the event. "I cannot believe it. I'm shaking right now, maybe from the cold, or from the excitement, I don't know.

"But I'm ecstatic, I can't believe I got to land my run. Just to land a run would have been plenty for me and to get on the podium, but to get first is crazy."

Gerard's medal was the USA team's first of this year's Winter Games in Pyeongchang.