'Hotdog' in the halfpipe! Alex
Ferreira finally wins his Olympic gold
[February 21, 2026]
By EDDIE PELLS
LIVIGNO, Italy (AP) — The next time you see a senior citizen
barreling down the mountain, maybe doing a double-cork while he's at
it, don’t think twice. That might just be your neighborhood's
friendly new Olympic champion.
Alex Ferreira, the freeskier known to don prosthetics to look 80 and
turn into a character named “Hotdog Hans" when he's not kicking butt
in the halfpipe, added a gold medal Friday night to the silver and
bronze he'd won at the last two games to “finish the rainbow,” as
his mother said.
The 31-year-old, a longtime fixture on the slopes and in the schools
and rec centers in Aspen, Colorado, also put America in the win
column for the first time in two weeks of halfpipe, slopestyle and
big air action at the Livigno Snow Park.
“I’m going to drink copious amounts of beer,” Ferreira said when
asked how he would celebrate.
He’s fun like that. This was a popular victory all across the park,
squeezed out of a tight, brutal, all-night battle with runner-up
Henry Sildaru of Estonia — who skis slopestyle and big air, too,
just like Eileen Gu — and Canada’s Brendan Mackay, who finished
third.
Bedlam and tears broke out in the stands after Mackay laid down the
night’s last run, a solid one, but came up 2.75 points short of
Ferreira's winning score: 93.75.
When the Canadian's mark came up, Ferreira bent to one knee and
flashed a smile that lit up the mountain.
“Best moment of my life,” he said.
Asked what the best thing about the new Olympic champion was, Mackay
said there was too much to list.
“But honestly, the biggest thing that stands out about Alex, is that
he is just an incredibly nice guy,” he said.
Among those near the medal stand to congratulate Ferreira was
two-time Olympic titlist David Wise, who made the trip despite not
making the Olympic team. He was ranked eighth in the world in
halfpipe this season — a true sign of how deep the American team
runs.
Also sharing hugs was Nick Goepper, the American three-time medalist
in slopestyle who switched to the halfpipe in search of his first
gold.
In the evening’s most visceral sign of what this contest really
meant, Goepper threw caution to the wind on his last run and flung
his body high above the halfpipe, his back slamming wickedly on the
deck before he bounced to the bottom of the pipe.
He was lucky to walk away from that — not as fortunate that Mackay's
91 on the last run of the night bumped him from third to fourth by a
scant 2 points.
“To go for it in that moment took serious guts,” Ferreira said. “He
is a real man.”
Drama involving Hess extended beyond the halfpipe
Clutch skiing and huge crashes were only part of the drama that
played out among these halfpipe riders. The show started two weeks
earlier.
American Hunter Hess opened the morning’s qualifying by landing a
good run, then putting his thumb and forefinger in the shape of an
“L." It was a nod to the eruption that occurred Feb. 8 when
President Donald Trump called Hess a “total Loser,” in response to
Hess’ saying “Just because I’m wearing the flag doesn’t mean I
represent everything that’s going on in the U.S.”
[to top of second column] |
United States' Alex Ferreira celebrates during the men's freestyle
skiing halfpipe finals at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Livigno,
Italy, Friday, Feb. 20, 2026. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)
“I had a week that was pretty challenging,” Hess
said after qualifying, speaking of the threats and vitriol lobbed
his way after the president weighed in. He finished 10th in the
final and did not stop for interviews.
Ferreira fills in the final missing piece to a fantastic career
Ferreira, not surprisingly, spent the entire aftermath of the
contest smiling. There's more to come.
He has already shot six episodes of his YouTube streamer “Hotdog
Hans," an entertaining trip to the mountain in which the
80-something daredevil does truck-driver grabs and 1080s in front of
unsuspecting resort goers who cannot believe their eyes.
“Just trying to bring some humor and funniness to the world,” he
explained.
In between the fun and games lies a more serious pursuit.
Ferreira went 7 for 7 in World Cup events in 2024 — the sort of
undefeated streak that really doesn't happen much in sports,
especially not in this one, where talent, like the medals, are
spread very evenly across the United States, Canada, Estonia — the
world.
Those sort of streaks, in Olympic off-years, can sometimes leave a
guy wondering.
“You don't want to peak two years before the Games," said Gus
Kenworthy, the 2014 slopestyle silver medalist who finished sixth in
this one. “But I'm stoked for him that it worked out tonight. It was
one of the best runs I've seen him do in a long time, maybe ever,
and I'm happy.”
When Ferreira's skis smacked down lightly on the fifth of five
butter-smooth landings in the contest winner, he started whipping
around his right ski pole — his signature move in what now goes down
as his signature win.
A few minutes later, his sisters and parents were crying and he was
on the top step of the podium, singing out loud as the
“Star-Spangled Banner” played for the first time at the Livigno Snow
Park.
He used to be the best freeskier in the world without an Olympic
title. Not anymore.
“He had the silver, the bronze and he needed the gold,” said Alex’s
mother, Colleen Ferreira. “He was driven. A year ago, he said he was
going to do this, and he did it.”
___
AP Sports Writer Joseph Wilson contributed.
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