Freestyle skiing-Norway's Ruud wins gold in men's freeski Big Air

BEIJING :Norway's Birk Ruud claimed the first men's freeski Big Air Olympic gold medal with a dominant display as his main rival Alex Hall faltered at the Beijing Winter Games on Wednesday.

Having landed a switch left triple 1980 mute - five and a half rotations - in the first run, the 21-year-old scored a total of 187.75 and was assured of the title before the third and final jump, which he made holding the Norwegian flag.

Colby Stevenson was second for the United States, who are still waiting for their first gold of the Games on the fifth day of competition.

Sweden's Henrik Harlaut took the bronze medal with his last jump.

(Reporting by Julien Pretot and Krystal Hu; Editing by Peter Rutherford)