PYEONGCHANG, South Korea (Reuters) - American Redmond Gerard claimed the United States first gold medal of the Pyeongchang Winter Games on Sunday with his victory in the snowboarding slopestyle competition.

Gerard scored a run of 87.16 to hold off Canadians Max Parrot and Mark McMorris, who finished second and third respectively.

The 17-year-old Gerard, the youngest in the competition, landed a perfect backside triple cork 1440 on his final run and despite Parrot landing the same trick on the final run of the day the judges favoured the American.

Gerard believes taking a risk in the final run was the difference between himself and Parrot. I havent had time for it to sink in yet, Gerard told reporters minutes after the final result.