Winter Olympics

Winter Olympics 2014 snowboarding results: Sage Kotsenburg wins gold for Team USA

No Shaun White? No problem.

By James Dator Feb 8, 2014, 6:25am EST

The first medals of the Sochi Games were handed out at Rosa Khutor Extreme Park on Saturday in Men's Slopestyle and American Sage Kotsenburg surprised by bringing home the gold.

Kotsenburg finished with a 93.50 on his first run of the finals that held through both runs. Staale Sandbech of Norway won the silver with a 91.75 and the podium was rounded out by Mark McMorris of Canada. Some controversy surrounds McMorris' score with the Canadian contingency upset by the 88.75 he was awarded on a second run that featured a high degree of difficulty.

The focus on Saturday is Team USA's first gold medal of the 2014 Winter Olympics and Kotsenburg's road to the podium was an unlikely one. He didn't qualify high enough on Thursday to gain an automatic bid to the finals, meaning he needed to throw down a solid run in the semi-finals and then another later in the day against well-rested snowboarders and medal favorites.

He was the sole member of Team USA to make the finals after a posting a 90.50 in the semis, finishing second. Fellow Americans Ryan Stassel and Charles Guldemond both failed to qualify, putting the pressure on Kotsenburg's shoulders.

Shaun White withdrew from the men's slopestyle event earlier in the week amid concerns for safety and a desire to concentrate on the snowboard half-pipe. He was mocked by members of the Canadian team on Twitter for his withdrawal, but Team USA had the last laugh.

Here are the full results from the final round on Saturday.

Place	Country	Name	Best Run
Gold	USA	Sage Kotsenburg	93.50
Silver	NOR	Staale Sandbrech	91.75
Bronze	CAN	Mark McMorris	88.75
4	SWE	Sven Thorgren	87.50
5	CAN	Maxence Parrot	87.25
6	GBR	Jamie Nichols	85.50
7	FIN	Peetu Piiroinen	81.25
8	JPN	Yuki Kadono	75.75
9	CAN	Sebastien Toutant	58.50
10	GBR	Billy Morgan	39.75
11	FIN	Roope Tonteri	39.00
12	NOR	Gjermund Braaten	24.75