Ashley Caldwell, Christopher Lillis and Justin Schoenefeld qualified for the four-team final behind China, scoring 330.55 to the host nation’s 336.89.

Xu Mengtao gave China the advantage early in the final by scoring 106.03 points with a back full-full-full, while Caldwell received 88.86 for the same routine.

The final swung in favour of the US when Lillis scored 135.00 points in the second run, with his high tariff back double full-full double full jump rewarded by the judges.

A mistake from Jia Zongyang saw the Chinese skier receive 96.02 in reply.

Schoenefeld sealed victory for the US when his back double full-full-full received 114.48, taking the team to a winning total of 338.34.

Qi Guanpu closed the gap for China with the final jump, but his 122.17 was only enough to secure the silver medal.

The host nation ended on 324.22.

Canada finished as the bronze medallists with Marion Thenault, Miha Fontaine and Lewis Irving scoring 290.98, while Switzerland placed fourth on 276.01.

The US were able to celebrate their first aerials Olympic gold medal since Nagano 1998, where Eric Bergoust and Nikki Stone won the men’s and women’s events, respectively.

"I couldn’t be more excited," said Caldwell.

"This is my fourth Games, and I’ve been in the hunt for a gold medal my entire career.

"To do it with these guys is incredible.

"Chris has been like a brother to me forever, and Justin is the love of my life, so that really helps."

The ROC team had headed into the event as the reigning world champions, with Liubov Nikitina, Pavel Krotov and Maxim Burov having won gold under the Russian Ski Federation banner last year.

Nikitina was the only member of the team to contest the team event in Beijing, with Burov replaced by his brother Ilya as he focused on the individual competition, while Stanislav Nikitin took the spot of Krotov.

The ROC team failed to qualify for the second part of the final after finishing fifth, with only four teams advancing.