Everything you need to know about Taylor Gold

How do you stand out from the snowboard crowd?

Just ask Team USA halfpipe medal contender Taylor Gold.

The 28-year-old finished seventh in men’s halfpipe qualification at the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games on Wednesday (9 February), and did so on his own terms.

On a day where attention was largely focused on three-time Olympic champion Shaun White, Gold’s performance on the pipe did not go unnoticed.

Unlike the majority of his rivals, the man from Colorado did not throw down the typical massive tricks often executed by those in high stakes competition. Instead, Gold strung together a run that was uniquely own.

Fond of the 'old-school' ways, Gold has found ways to make traditional tricks more complex and, for the most part, his creativity has received widespread approval.

His qualification run in Beijing which earned him 83.50 featured a hot take on the McTwist and a double Michalchuk 1080.

While his variety and difference might be considered risky, snowboarding purists know that what Gold is doing is setting him apart.

Before the Games, he told USA Today, “You can choose to spend time working on a triple cork, or you choose to spend time working on a combination that nobody has ever done."

At a press conference featuring US snowboarders that had qualified for the halfpipe final, talk centered on the infamous triple cork and whether one of the field might try and land it in Friday's final.

Lucas Foster, who missed out on the final, duly pointed out that what his countryman did on the pipe was no less challenging:

“Taylor’s got the double Chuck 1080, which is arguably just as difficult.”

Could it be enough to see him on the podium?

Gold’s appearance at Beijing 2022 was far from guaranteed.

The Steamboat Springs native