American teen wins snowboard slopestyle gold in Calgary

Teenage American snowboarder Oliver Martin swears he broke no laws Saturday in celebrating his first World Cup medal — a gold — in men's snowboard slopestyle.

The legal drinking age in Alberta is 18, and 16-year-old Martin was doused with a bubbly beverage on the podium at Winsport's Canada Olympic Park.

"It was apple cider — yeah, I checked," he said during a break from signing autographs and posing for photos in the finish area.

"I feel amazing. I just couldn't be more happy with the way it went today. It's my first World Cup podium. So for it to be gold is just crazy."

Following a strategic game plan, Martin delivered a clean, conservative performance for a first-run score of 80.60.

That proved good enough for gold, with big name after big name crashing as the course conditions deteriorated on a windy day in the shadow of the Rocky Mountains.

Gerard Redmond of the U.S. seized silver with 78.63 points. Norway's Marcus Kleveland captured bronze with 75.65 points.

"I just decided to play it safe today," said Martin, of Vail, Colo. "Just do the run that suits the conditions and suits what I feel capable of doing."

Martin, who towers over most of his competitors at six foot one, planned to further celebrate his first World Cup victory with dinner at the revolving restaurant at the Calgary Tower.

Cameron Spalding, of Havelock, Ont., arrived in Calgary ranked No. 1 in the World Cup standings. Fellow Canadian Liam Brearley, of Gravenhurst, Ont., sat at No. 2.

On Saturday, both Spalding and Brearley spluttered in the slushy conditions with the temperature hovering around 8 C.

"The snow was definitely a bit better at the start when we were doing practice," said Spalding, who finished 16th. "The wind picked up in the contest.