If the Americans were going to get a slopestyle medal at the FIS Snowboard World Championships on Friday in Engadin, Switzerland, a betting man probably would have predicted it to come from either Red Gerard or Dusty Henricksen. But neither the 2018 slopestyle Olympic gold medalist nor the 2023 FIS crystal globe winner carried the day for the red, white and blue.

Instead, U.S. Ski Team rookie Ollie Martin came through in the clutch, altering his two final second-run tricks to earn the bronze medal.

“Switching things up last minute made things super stressful,” Martin told U.S. Ski and Snowboard after claiming the nation’s second-straight World Championships slopestyle bronze after fellow Eagle County rider Chris Corning’s third-place finish in 2023.

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Fresh off winning his first World Cup in Calgary on Feb. 22, Martin qualified fourth on Thursday. His 89.50 was the top U.S. score and trailed only China’s 2022 big air Olympic champion, Su Yiming (94.75), Italy’s Ian Matteoli (93.50) and Finland’s Rene Rinnekangas (90.25). In order to take advantage of an optimal weather window, finals were moved from Sunday to Friday.

In his first run, Martin got a little bit lost in the air coming off the first kicker, failing to land his switch backside double 1620 melon to stalefish grab. His 12.12 score left him at the bottom of the 16-rider standings. On run No. 2, Gerard posted a 74.61, good for fifth, while Henrickson slid into seventh with a 63.58. That left Martin — a Youth Olympic Games big air silver medalist last winter — as America’s last hope for a medal.

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The 16-year-old came through the upper two rails clean, going backside 450 boardslide to fakie on the first and switch backside blunt underflip 630 weddle on the second. He made amends on his 1620 and then nailed a frontside double 1440 weddle on the twin kicker. His last two hits, however, were the difference makers. Instead of a back 16, Martin went backside 1800 on the third kicker, recording a 7.99 score — the highest mark recorded by any athlete on the feature. He also upgraded to a double crippler over the sharkfin before closing with a 50-50 backside blunt 270.

“I didn’t feel confident the run I had planned would give me a good enough shot at the podium,” Martin explained. “So I talked with my coaches and decided to change it up. I’m so glad I did and just relieved I was able to put it down. Really happy to have pushed through the stress and have used it to my advantage.”

Canadian Liam Brearley delivered a second-run score of 90.15 to take the gold while Yiming (85.07) claimed silver.

“I’m so glad I landed that run. I didn’t land my first one, and I was just like ‘I’ve got nothing to lose, I’m going to put it all out there’, and it worked out,” Brearley told FIS media before praising his competitors. “These boys are killing it and it’s such a high level of slopestyle right now. It’s just an insane level of riding.”

Aside from his own teammates, Martin took down some big names to claim his first global medal at the senior level. The 2021 and 2023 slopestyle world champion, Marcus Kleveland of Norway, wound up in 14th while Brearley’s teammate, slopestyle crystal globe winner Cameron Spalding was sixth. Japan’s Taiga Hasegawa, the FIS overall park and pipe crystal globe winner and defending big air world champion, finished 13th.

Meanwhile, Martin’s Ski and Snowboard Club Vail teammates Lily Dhawornvej and Hahna Norman finished as the top two Americans in 15th and 18th, respectively, in the women’s event as New Zealand’s Zoi Sadowski-Synnott won her third slopestyle world title.

The World Championships continue with the big air training on Saturday and qualifications March 24-25. The big air finals is scheduled for March 27.