The main square in the Rotermanni Quarter in central Tallinn was taken over for the 19-year-old's triumphant homecoming at 5 o'clock Sunday, an event he found even scarier than the halfpipe event in which he won silver.

This was Estonia's only medal at the recently concluded Milano Cortina games, and came at the 11th hour Friday evening. It means Sildaru joins an elite club of just five winter olympians from Estonia, including his older sister Kelly, to have won a medal.

"I would say coming here was more nerve-racking than any competition start. It was amazing to see how people were cheering along," Sildaru told ERR. "I didn't expect there to be so many wonderful people supporting me. It's really awesome — thank you all!"

Henry has now emerged from Kelly's shadow. She first shot to prominence in the freestyle skiing world at the age of 13, and took bronze at the previous Winter Olympics in Beijing.

As for the reasons for his new-found success, Henry said: "Well, a lot of hard work has definitely been put in since childhood. Someone asked in an interview when I set the goal of winning an Olympic medal. I'd have to say it's very hard to pinpoint when. I've known since I was little that I wanted to become an Olympic champion one day. Maybe at the next Olympics."

"I'd say I like sport and skiing. So you could say it's also fun," Sildaru said. "If you enjoy what you do, you might not really feel like it's work. You just enjoy the process," he added.

Sildaru was accompanied by his father and coach, Tõnis. Estonian Olympic Committee (EOK) chief and former president of Estonia Kersti Kaljulaid also gave a speech.

"We have Henry Sildaru. This is a boy who has wanted this his whole life and worked his way to the top. Even though Henry is very young, his journey has been just as long as others', because he simply started very, very early," Kaljulaid said.

Sport falls under the Ministry of Culture's remit, and Minister of Culture Heidy Purga also spoke.

"This medal has been won through courage, work and belief. It is a medal of determination. It is a medal of resilience, and of course it is also a medal of teamwork," Purga said.

Once the celebrations ended, the reality of the everyday grind returned for Henry. "We'll be home briefly and then head back to the mountain for training and competition," he said.

Sildaru was a surprise medalist Friday evening, having failed to qualify in the other two freestyle events: The slopestyle and the Big Air. However, after a poor first run in qualifying, he not only qualified with 88.00 points for the final but posted 92.75 points on his second run in that final (click on video player below to watch again). This placed him temporarily in the lead, and only U.S. skier Alex Ferreira was able to top Sildaru's performance.

Originally called mogul skiing when it made its full debut at the 1992 Games in Albertville in the French Alps, freestyle skiing combines acrobatics, speed and technical maneuvers. The halfpipe event, in which Sildaru won his medal, involves skiing down a U-shaped pipe similar to that used in skateboarding and performing tricks along the way. Sildaru's silver medal-winning performance is below.

From its informal beginnings, freestyle has grown into a serious, big-money sport. Top skier Eileen Gu, U.S.-born but electing to compete for China, where her mother is from, is currently the fourth highest-paid woman sportsperson worldwide and the highest-paid Winter Olympian.

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