Olympics-Freestyle-Messi fan Ferreira completes medal collection with halfpipe gold

By Alvise Armellini and Lisa Richwine

LIVIGNO, Italy, Feb 20 (Reuters) - Alex Ferreira of the United States won gold in the freestyle skiing men's halfpipe final at Milano Cortina on Friday, completing his collection of Olympic medals.

The 31-year-old, widely seen as the favourite in his third Winter Games, won halfpipe bronze at Beijing 2022 and silver at Pyeongchang 2018.

He finally conquered the top podium spot in the alpine resort of Livigno with a near-perfect third and final run, which earned 93.75 out of 100.

"Best moment of my life. Easily. Easily. Blown out of the water. Not even close," he said, adding that the second best moment was meeting his girlfriend.

Ferreira's win consolidated provisional second place for the U.S. in the overall medals table behind Norway and ahead of hosts Italy.

MESSI IS HIS HERO

The son of a professional soccer player from Argentina, Ferreira lists Lionel Messi - rather than any other freeskier - as his sporting hero.

"This is going to be my last go at things and I'm giving it everything that I possibly have. So I'm praying to my idol Messi. I know he's with me," he told Olympics.com this week.

Known as extremely disciplined and meticulous, normally going to bed at 8.15 pm and getting up at 6 am, Ferreira has a wilder side on social media.

He runs an alter ego account on Instagram, "Hotdog Hans", in which he does stunts, tricks and jokes on ski slopes dressed up like an old man, entertaining more than 320,000 followers.

SURPRISE SILVER FOR ESTONIAN 'DARK HORSE'

Friday's final was close-run until the end.

Estonian newcomer Henry Sildaru, 19, emerged as the biggest surprise of the night, taking silver with 93 points on his third attempt.

"I knew he was a dark horse the whole time. He has all the tricks. His run is so technical. He grabs so well," said Canada's Brendan Mackay.

"Did I think (Sildaru) was going to be on the podium today? Just frankly, no, but I am insanely shocked and just so happy for (him)," Ferreira added.

Mackay, the 2023 halfpipe world champion, won bronze on the very last run of the event, taking 91 points.

His last-gasp effort pushed American Nick Goepper into fourth place, minutes after he suffered a big crash from which he walked away seemingly unscathed.

Another top medal hope, New Zealand's Fin Melville Ives, had a more serious accident in the morning qualifiers and was taken away to hospital on a stretcher.

In halfpipe, riders slide across a U-shaped snow ramp and perform acrobatics in the air. They are awarded points based on height, difficulty, variety of tricks, and other factors.