(NEXSTAR) – Olympic gold medalist Red Gerard joined nearly 40 family members for a celebratory meal in Milan on Tuesday as he prepares for his upcoming slopestyle snowboarding event. Gerard, who won gold at the 2018 Winter Games, is currently training in Italy to pursue his second Olympic title. The dinner provided a brief break from the intensity of Olympic training. Gerard's sister, Tieghan Gerard, a New York Times bestselling author and creator of the "Half-Baked Harvest" food blog, joined the athlete to offer support. "It's been really nice just to kind of take away a little bit of the pressure and kind of get away from the Olympics almost in a sense and go back to just hanging out with my 'day one' family," Red Gerard said. He first gained international attention during the 2018 Winter Games, where he won a gold medal in slopestyle snowboarding at age 17. He is now focused on adding a second gold medal to his career. "Having big air done with, I think there's a lot on the table of just being like, what's there to lose?" Gerard said. "Let's go for it. So, definitely the goal is to try to get two gold medals in the Olympics, for sure." The celebratory dinner took place at Moebas Milano and included Gerard's baby cousin and approximately 40 other family members. Michelin Star Chef Enrico Croatti prepared the meal for the group. Croatti, who has cooked for audiences worldwide, emphasized the importance of culinary standards. "Traditional or modern is very important, it's very good food of the best quality," Croatti said. Tieghan Gerard, Red's sister and a food creator, helped facilitate the gathering. She launched her food blog, "Half-Baked Harvest," in 2012 and has since become a bestselling cookbook author with a global online following. Despite her professional success, she noted that her primary motivation remains her family. "And yes, Italy, there's so much culture and it's so about food and the love that it provides to people and families," Tieghan Gerard said. "And that's really what I'm all about. And essentially why I started cooking was because it was a way that I could show my love to my family." The siblings expressed mutual admiration for each other's career trajectories. Tieghan described the experience of supporting her brother in Milan as "wild" and "super exciting." "There's no bigger cheerleader for Redmond than I am," she said. "I'm so proud of him. I've seen him grow so much, not only as a snowboarder, but as a person, someone growing up and becoming an adult." Meantime, Red Gerard noted that his sister's professional drive serves as a source of motivation for his own athletic performance. "A lot of people, I think, you see when they get success, you see them back off," he said. "It's like when TV gets success, she just like wants to put the pedal back on the floor harder than before. So it's truly pretty inspiring for me to see that and you know, find inspiration from her hard work and put it into my snowboarding." Red Gerard is scheduled to compete in slopestyle snowboarding on Feb. 16. All facts in this report were gathered by journalists employed by Nexstar. Artificial intelligence tools were used to reformat from a broadcast script into a news article for our website. This report was edited and fact-checked by Nexstar staff before being published.