BEIJING, China — When Team USA's Alex Hall goes for gold on Tuesday night in the freestyle skiing big air event at the 2022 Winter Olympics, he could have a trick up his sleeve virtually no one else can match - if he tries to use it.
Hall goes into the competition having posted the second-highest score of qualifying behind Norway's Birk Ruud, who goes into Tuesday night's final generally considered the gold-medal favorite.
But if Hall can pull off a trick he first landed at the X Games in January, he might be able to pull out the upset.
The trick is a 2160 - a jump with six full 360-degree rotations that Hall stunned the crowd with last month. It was the first time anyone had pulled off such a trick in competition.
"No way... did he just go to the future?" the stunned announcer asked when Hall pulled it off. The trick is considered a spin "into the future" because it's a higher number than the current year.
"The game has been changed," the announcer noted.
It may yet change it again - according to Reuters, Ruud may attempt a triple cork 2160 in Beijing, which would add a third off-axis rotation to what Hall performed at the X Games, which was a double cork version of the 2160.
It's also not given Hall will try to repeat his X Games feat on Tuesday night, he may have a different strategy in mind. Though, according to NBC Sports, it's his signature trick, which would make it a bit of a surprise if he didn't try to pull it out on the world's biggest stage at the Olympics.
In any case, his Team USA bio quote hints at his ambitions to wow the world at the Winter Olympics.
"Hopefully, I can try something that the judges will think is unique and I enjoy doing," he said. "As long as it’s fun to do, after all, that’s the reason we all do this in the first place."
Hall comes into the Olympics having finished second in December at the FIS Freestyle World Cup event in Steamboat Springs, Colorado, and then winning gold at the X Games.
He's not the only American with high hopes in this event, though. Mac Forehand finished fourth at last year's World Championships (Hall was seventh) and he was eighth in qualifying in Beijing. Colby Stevenson, a slopestyle silver medalist at last year's World Championships, is also in the big air final after finishing fifth in qualifying.
The first final run in the big air event begins Tuesday night at 10 p.m. EST (11 a.m. Wednesday morning in China) and the medal run begins at 10:45 p.m.