(CNN) Teenager Red Gerard pulled off a shock win in the men's slopestyle snowboarding to claim the first gold medal for Team USA at the PyeongChang Winter Olympics.

The 17-year-old crashed on both of his first two runs amid high winds at Pheonix Park, but pulled off a spectacular final effort that no one could match to become the youngest American man to win an Olympic winter gold medal since 1928.

Sitting in 11th place after two runs, Gerard wowed the judges with his descent through a series of rails, ramps and huge jumps to beat Canadian riders Max Parrot and Mark McMorris to the silver and bronze respectively.

The diminutive Gerard, the second-youngest of seven siblings who grew up in Cleveland, Ohio before moving to Colorado, seemed stunned as he became the youngest Olympic snowboarding champion ever.

"I was surprised to make it even to the finals of the Olympics and to get first is above me, I don't even know what's going on to be honest," Gerard told the British Broadcasting Corporation.

"I cannot believe what has just happened - it is insane."

Parrot put down a near-flawless run as the last rider to go down, but it wasn't good enough to knock Gerard off the top spot.

McMorris, who had been in the lead after two rounds, took his second straight Olympic slopestyle bronze less than a year after crashing into a tree, suffering a collapsed lung, ruptured spleen, fractured jaw, ribs, pelvis and left arm.

"It feels pretty special to stand on this podium again after everything," McMorris told reporters. "I need to pinch myself because I should have some permanent damage from what my accident entailed."

The US has not had to wait until the second day of an Olympic Games -- Summer or Winter -- to win its first gold medal since 1998.

Gerard -- real name Redmond -- is also the first ever medalist at the Olympic Winter Games born after January 1 2000, according to Gracenote

He was a child prodigy, who could walk at nine months, started snowboarding at the age of two and managed to do a standing backflip by the time he was six years old, according to the Washington Post. He joined the American national team just four years ago.

His Olympic journey is set to continue in the men's big air competition, which will be making its debut in an Olympic Games on Feb. 21.

Photos: Winter Olympics: Sunday, February 11 Mogul skier Daichi Hara of Japan practices at Phoenix Park. Hide Caption 1 of 27 Photos: Winter Olympics: Sunday, February 11 Norway's Magnus Nedregotten and Kristin Skaslien, out of frame, compete in a curling mixed doubles tie-breaker against Dexin Ba and Rui Wang of China. Hide Caption 2 of 27 Photos: Winter Olympics: Sunday, February 11 In this handout image provided by the South Korean Presidential Blue House, South Korean President Moon Jae-in, second left, talks with North Korea's nominal head of state Kim Yong Nam, second right, during a performance of North Korea's Samjiyon Orchestra at the National Theater in Seoul. To the left of Kim Yong Nam is Kim Yo Jong, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un's sister. Hide Caption 3 of 27 Photos: Winter Olympics: Sunday, February 11 Silver medalist Chris Mazdzer celebrates after capturing the first-ever men's singles luge medal for the United States. Hide Caption 4 of 27 Photos: Winter Olympics: Sunday, February 11 A volunteer watches as athletes run the course during a training session prior to the women's slopestyle qualifying. Hide Caption 5 of 27 Photos: Winter Olympics: Sunday, February 11 Team United States huddle at the goal before a women's ice hockey game against Finland. Hide Caption 6 of 27 Photos: Winter Olympics: Sunday, February 11 Dutch speedskater Sven Kramer won the 5,000 meters for the third straight Olympics. He's the first man in Olympic history to win eight speedskating medals. Hide Caption 7 of 27 Photos: Winter Olympics: Sunday, February 11 Austria's David Gleirscher won the gold medal in the men's single luge event, giving Austria its first medal in the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics. Hide Caption 8 of 27 Photos: Winter Olympics: Sunday, February 11 Canada's Andi Naude competes in the women's moguls. Hide Caption 9 of 27 Photos: Winter Olympics: Sunday, February 11 Alexander Gamelin attempts to fix the outfit of partner Yura Min during their ice dance performance. Hide Caption 10 of 27 Photos: Winter Olympics: Sunday, February 11 Monique Lamoureux-Morando of the United States, takes a punch from Rosa Lindstedt of Finland, during the preliminary round of the women's ice hockey. Hide Caption 11 of 27 Photos: Winter Olympics: Sunday, February 11 Cross-country skiers compete in the men's 15km + 15km skiathlon race. Hide Caption 12 of 27 Photos: Winter Olympics: Sunday, February 11 Silver medal winner Max Parrot of Canada competes in the men's snowboarding slopestyle finals. Hide Caption 13 of 27 Photos: Winter Olympics: Sunday, February 11 Ghana's Akwasi Frimpong takes part in a training session for the men's skeleton event. Hide Caption 14 of 27 Photos: Winter Olympics: Sunday, February 11 A South Korean woman cheers during the ladies single figure skating event. Hide Caption 15 of 27 Photos: Winter Olympics: Sunday, February 11 USA battles Finland in the preliminary round of women's ice hockey. The US women won, 3-1. Hide Caption 16 of 27 Photos: Winter Olympics: Sunday, February 11 Gold medallist Carlijn Achtereekte of the Netherlands, center, celebrates on the podium with silver medalist Ireen Wust and bronze medalist Antoinette de Jong during the ceremony for the woman's speed skating 3000m. Hide Caption 17 of 27 Photos: Winter Olympics: Sunday, February 11 A protester burns a North Korean flag during a rally against North Korea's participation in the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics. Hide Caption 18 of 27 Photos: Winter Olympics: Sunday, February 11 Ted-Jan Bloemen of Canada, right, crosses the finish line a fraction of a second before Norway's Sverre Lunde Pedersen during the men's 5,000 meters race. Hide Caption 19 of 27 Photos: Winter Olympics: Sunday, February 11 Kim Yo Jong, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un's sister (at left), talks with South Koran President Moon Jae-in and his wife Kim Jung-sook during a performance of North Korea's Samjiyon Orchestra at the National Theater in Seoul, South Korea. Hide Caption 20 of 27 Photos: Winter Olympics: Sunday, February 11 Redmond Gerard of the United States poses after winning gold in the snowboarding slopestyle. Max Parrot from Canada won the silver medal while fellow Canadian Mark McMorris took the bronze. The 17-year-old Gerard became the youngest American ever to medal in a snowboarding event in the Olympics and the first American to medal at the 2018 PyeongChang Games. Hide Caption 21 of 27 Photos: Winter Olympics: Sunday, February 11 Russia's Evgenia Medvedeva competes in the figure skating single short program. The 18-year-old holds the world records for most points in both the short and long programs. Hide Caption 22 of 27 Photos: Winter Olympics: Sunday, February 11 Tomi Rantamaeki and Oona Kauste of Finland compete in the mixed curling round robin against China. Hide Caption 23 of 27 Photos: Winter Olympics: Sunday, February 11 Russian fans cheer during the team figure skating short dance qualification. Hide Caption 24 of 27 Photos: Winter Olympics: Sunday, February 11 Staale Sandbech of Norway snowboards in the slopestyle competition. Hide Caption 25 of 27 Photos: Winter Olympics: Sunday, February 11 Japan's Kana Muramoto and Chris Reed compete in the team figure skating short dance event. Hide Caption 26 of 27 Photos: Winter Olympics: Sunday, February 11 A spectator holds a sign at the men's snowboarding slopestyle final. Hide Caption 27 of 27

Historic luge silver

Later Sunday, Chris Mazdzer added another medal for Team USA and the first men's luge medal for the US when he took silver behind Austria's David Gleirscher.

The 23-year-old Gleirscher, who hadn't even won a World Cup event before the Games, claimed Austria's first luge gold in 50 years after the leader and last man down, defending champion Felix Loch of Germany, made a big mistake on his final run to finish fifth. Germany's Johannes Ludwig took the bronze.

Meanwhile, Perrine Laffont became the first Frenchwoman to win the Olympic moguls title with victory in Pyeongchang.

The 19-year-old beat defending champion Justine Dufour-Lapointe of Canada, with Yulia Galysheva of Kazakhstan in third.

Dutch speed skater Sven Kramer set a new world record to clinch a third consecutive 5,000m gold.

The 31-year-old beat Canada's Ted-Jan Bloemen into second, with Norway's Sverre Lunde Pedersen in third.

In the cross-country arena, Simen Hegstad Krueger led a Norwegian cleansweep in the men's 15km + 15km skiathlon, while Germany's Arnd Peiffer won the men's biathlon 10km sprint.

An emotional Evgenia Medvedeva smashed her own world record of 80.85 with a score of 81.06 in her opening performance in the figure skating short program.

The 18-year-old, who has never been beaten in competition, scored 10 points for the Olympic Athletes from Russia (OAR) team and was well ahead of the next best performer, Italy's Carolina Kostner who scored 75.10.