American forward Folarin Balogun took less than one minute to give Monaco the lead against Paris Saint-Germain in their Champions League playoff on Tuesday, and added a second goal less than midway through the first half.
He still ended up on the losing side as defending champion PSG rallied from 2-0 down to take a 3-2 lead back to Paris for the second leg next Wednesday. The winner advances to the last 16.
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Monaco's Folarin Balogun celebrates with teammates after scoring his side's second goal during the first-leg of the Champions League playoff soccer match between Monaco and Paris Saint-Germain in Monaco, Tuesday, Feb. 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Philippe Magoni)
Monaco's Folarin Balogun scores his side's second goal during the first-leg of the Champions League playoff soccer match between Monaco and Paris Saint-Germain in Monaco, Tuesday, Feb. 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Philippe Magoni)
Monaco's Folarin Balogun, second right, scores the opening goal during the first-leg of the Champions League playoff soccer match between Monaco and Paris Saint-Germain in Monaco, Tuesday, Feb. 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Philippe Magoni)
Monaco's Folarin Balogun celebrates after scoring the opening goal during the first-leg of the Champions League playoff soccer match between Monaco and Paris Saint-Germain in Monaco, Tuesday, Feb. 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Philippe Magoni)
There was only 55 seconds on the clock at Stade Louis II when Balogun headed in a precise cross from the left by Aleksandr Golovin.
Balogun scored again to make it 2-0 in the 18th when PSG lost the ball and Maghnes Akliouche threaded a fine pass behind the defense for Balogun to fire confidently past hesitant goalkeeper Matvei Safonov.
"It was a positive start. If someone had said we’d be 2-0 up within 20 minutes, we’d have taken it," Balogun said. “But it’s not how you start, it’s how you finish. We’re a bit annoyed, but we’re alive and we have to focus on the second leg.”
It was a club-leading 10th goal of the season for the 24-year-old player who briefly broke into the Arsenal team six years ago before being sold to Monaco.
He almost had a chance for a hat trick late in the first half. But after running the forward line on his own he looked tired when he was replaced by Mika Biereth in the 83rd minute.
PSG was under some pressure heading into the game after a sixth defeat of the season on Friday led to an outburst by star striker Ousmane Dembélé questioning the attitude of his teammates.
Dembélé came off midway through the first half with what appeared to be a left calf injury.
PSG beat Brest 10-0 on aggregate in the playoffs last season.
Although PSG is heavy favorite to advance, Balogun remains confident of an upset.
AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
Monaco's Folarin Balogun celebrates with teammates after scoring his side's second goal during the first-leg of the Champions League playoff soccer match between Monaco and Paris Saint-Germain in Monaco, Tuesday, Feb. 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Philippe Magoni)
Monaco's Folarin Balogun scores his side's second goal during the first-leg of the Champions League playoff soccer match between Monaco and Paris Saint-Germain in Monaco, Tuesday, Feb. 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Philippe Magoni)
Monaco's Folarin Balogun, second right, scores the opening goal during the first-leg of the Champions League playoff soccer match between Monaco and Paris Saint-Germain in Monaco, Tuesday, Feb. 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Philippe Magoni)
Monaco's Folarin Balogun celebrates after scoring the opening goal during the first-leg of the Champions League playoff soccer match between Monaco and Paris Saint-Germain in Monaco, Tuesday, Feb. 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Philippe Magoni)
LIVIGNO, Italy (AP) — The difference between silver and gold in Olympic men's big air was a matter of who did a trick called a “nose butter” better.
The fact anyone can do it at all was only one of the amazing things to come out of a contest that will be long remembered by anyone who saw it.
Tormod Frostad of Norway edged out Mac Forehand of the United States by 2.25 points in Tuesday's final with the scores approaching the maximum of 200 points each. Frostad did so by nailing the nose butter — but with a physics-defying twist of his own — on all three of his jumps of a snowy freeskiing nail-biter on the big hill Tuesday night.
The 24-year-old Forehand's reaction after such a narrow loss?
“I'm happy to walk away alive from that event,” he said. “It was super heavy, people are going crazy and this is a really dangerous sport. I’m just happy to ski away and be OK, and (to do so) with the silver medal is pretty cool as well.”
Frostad had the lead through most of the 12-man final after nailing two massive jumps. But Forehand flipped a thrilling competition on its head when he moved ahead of Frostad on the second-to-last jump of the night.
That turned what had been looking like a victory lap for Frostad into the most pressure-filled leap of his career.
But the 23-year-old Norwegian pulled out another flawlessly executed effort to secure his first gold medal in his second Games.
Frostad finished with 195.50 points to Forehand’s 193.25.
His key to facing the moment? Not really caring what happened next.
“Yeah, I didn’t really didn’t care because I was already super happy and I could ski the last run with joy in my body and just deliver a fun trick,” Frostad said.
While Forehand performed incredibly difficult tricks that focused on spins and flips, including a last one he had never landed and only recently “joked about,” Frostad did something more: He took the sport in a new direction. Literally.
Instead of vaulting off the jump that's built to send skiers hurtling backward, Frostad defied physics and spun forward off that ramp.
One of those tricks was something nobody had seen before on a big air jump. That, in essence, is the core concept of these sports — “progression,” the drive for each generation, each skier to develop a new twist, a new turn, a new something to take the sport that much further.
“That’s the hard part about my trick,” Frostad said. “And to get into that axis is really, you got to be super precise, and the judges are aware of that, and that’s why they scored me great.”
Great? They ate it up and gave him scores of 95.25, 97 and then a gold-clinching 98.50 on his last jump when it was all down to him or Forehand for the gold.
Sensing he was part of a history-making night, American Konnor Ralph tried a triple-cork 2160 — that's six full spins — for the first time ever. He landed it and finished fifth, one spot behind teammate Troy Podmilsak in what was the best overall performance by the U.S. in the snowpark events (freeskiing and snowboarding) at these Olympics.
“Even though I knew I needed a 115 to win, I figured, 'Whatever, you've got to go for it, it's the Olympics,'” Ralph said.
But this night wasn't just about spinning the most.
“Tormod today was doing two tricks that have ever been done before and it’s less rotations but the takeoffs are so proper and so cool and different and he’s totally deserved that win,” Forehand said. “It’s not all about the rotations in our sport, it’s about the style, the creativity.”
Birk Ruud, the 2022 gold medalist who finished eighth after two crashes, agreed that Frostad had won because he had done the unexpected.
“Torm had those aces with the ‘butter double bio,’” Ruud said.
“No matter what tricks would come” after that, nobody could better Frostad, Ruud said. “So that means the progression is not just in the spinning.”
Frostad and Forehand both said that they would have been happy with any color of medal after participated in what they agreed was a final for the ages — one frosted by a steady snow that did nothing to slow down the 12 finalists.
“I mean, shoutout to everyone. They killed it,” Frostad said. “We all did amazing and even though the conditions were quite challenging, it ended up being like probably one of the greatest events ever.”
AP Winter Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics
United States' Mac Forehand celebrates during the men's freestyle skiing big air finals at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Livigno, Italy, Tuesday, Feb. 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)
From left, gold medalist Norway's Tormod Frostad, silver medalist United States' Mac Forehand and bronze medalist Austria's Matej Svancer react after the men's freestyle skiing big air finals at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Livigno, Italy, Tuesday, Feb. 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)
United States' Mac Forehand competes during the men's freestyle skiing big air finals at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Livigno, Italy, Tuesday, Feb. 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)
Norway's Tormod Frostad competes during the men's freestyle skiing big air finals at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Livigno, Italy, Tuesday, Feb. 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)
Norway's Tormod Frostad celebrates during the men's freestyle skiing big air finals at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Livigno, Italy, Tuesday, Feb. 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)
