Alessandro Haemmerle won Austria its first gold medal in men’s snowboard cross, narrowly edging out Canada’s Eliot Grondin.
Haemmerle entered a gold-medal favorite, but quickly faced adversity, finishing second to Mick Dierdorff of the U.S. in the opening elimination round. As the top-2 athletes in every heat advance, Haemmerle continued on to the quarterfinals and never looked back.
In the medal round, Grondin took an early lead but was overtaken by Haemmerle down the stretch. Coming off the final jump, the two snowboarders were neck and neck, with Haemmerle ultimately outdiving the 20-year-old Canadian.
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Italy’s Omar Visintin claimed bronze, edging out Julian Lueftner and denying Austria a second medal.
All but one – Hagan Kearney — of the American snowboarders advanced to the quarterfinals and found themselves involved in some of the more dramatic moments of competition.
Despite besting Haemmerle in the round of 32, Dierdorfff was eliminated in the quarterfinals after crashing out. One round later, Americans Nick Baumgartner and Jake Vedder faced off in the semifinals. Baumgartner, considered to be a medal contender, had a healthy lead but was passed down the stretch, eliminating him from competition. At 40, Baumgartner is the oldest member of Team USA.
Meanwhile, Vedder sent shockwaves through the field, narrowly missing out on the finals and finishing sixth overall. The 23-year-old was called up from the alternate list just days before the Opening Ceremony after 2014 silver medalist Alex Deibold was forced to withdraw from competition due to a serious head injury.
Deibold is one of only two Americans to win a medal in this event, along with two-time gold medalist Seth Wescott.