VANCOUVER, Canada—U.S. snowboarder Seth Wescott won gold on Monday in snowboard cross, making it the second gold medal for the U.S. since the games began on Saturday.
Westcott, 33, beat Canada’s Mike Robertson by half a snowboard length after a late run catch-up on Cypress Mountain, with France’s Tony Ramoin coming in third.
Robertson was in the lead for most of the final race before Wescott passed him unexpectedly on one of the last turns, and barely held on for the win. Yet Wescott himself did not see the catch-up as a “miracle.”
“I'd made some mistakes in there earlier in the day,” said Wescott. “I knew if I came back and executed it correctly, I could do it. It wasn’t a situation of looking for a miracle at all.”
Wescott also won the gold medal in the same event in Turin, Italy, in the 2006 Winter Olympics. The Turin Olympics marked the first time snowboard cross was included in the games.
In what has become a tradition, Wescott draped himself in the American flag at the flower ceremony.
“That was part of the motivation to get to this moment,” Wescott said. “I brought it so if I got to this moment, I'd have it here.”
Snowboard cross features four athletes competing head-to-head on a long-twisting downhill course with jumps and banked turns. The racers have to maneuver around each other while managing the high-speed turns and jumps, often colliding and continuing down the track.
Although American Nate Holland was a five-time X Games champion, he missed his chance of making it onto the podium after he fell halfway down the course. He came in fourth.
“It was a tight battle between me and Nate,” said Robertson. “We were battling near the top, then on one of the last jumps, Seth passed me.”
Nevertheless, his silver is something to celebrate.
“Hopefully I have plans for a couple brews, but we'll see.”
Fate was also not on David Speiser’s side, whose winning at first seemed promising. The German snowboarder came in eighth, although he was in the lead at first.
“I was in front, then I moved onto the outside on the bank. I couldn’t see where I was going, then I lost it,” said Speiser.
He said that this is be his last Winter Games.
“I don’t think [I will attend Sochi 2014], I'll be 37 years old.”
Westcott, 33, beat Canada’s Mike Robertson by half a snowboard length after a late run catch-up on Cypress Mountain, with France’s Tony Ramoin coming in third.
Robertson was in the lead for most of the final race before Wescott passed him unexpectedly on one of the last turns, and barely held on for the win. Yet Wescott himself did not see the catch-up as a “miracle.”
“I'd made some mistakes in there earlier in the day,” said Wescott. “I knew if I came back and executed it correctly, I could do it. It wasn’t a situation of looking for a miracle at all.”
Wescott also won the gold medal in the same event in Turin, Italy, in the 2006 Winter Olympics. The Turin Olympics marked the first time snowboard cross was included in the games.
In what has become a tradition, Wescott draped himself in the American flag at the flower ceremony.
“That was part of the motivation to get to this moment,” Wescott said. “I brought it so if I got to this moment, I'd have it here.”
Snowboard cross features four athletes competing head-to-head on a long-twisting downhill course with jumps and banked turns. The racers have to maneuver around each other while managing the high-speed turns and jumps, often colliding and continuing down the track.
Although American Nate Holland was a five-time X Games champion, he missed his chance of making it onto the podium after he fell halfway down the course. He came in fourth.
“It was a tight battle between me and Nate,” said Robertson. “We were battling near the top, then on one of the last jumps, Seth passed me.”
Nevertheless, his silver is something to celebrate.
“Hopefully I have plans for a couple brews, but we'll see.”
Fate was also not on David Speiser’s side, whose winning at first seemed promising. The German snowboarder came in eighth, although he was in the lead at first.
“I was in front, then I moved onto the outside on the bank. I couldn’t see where I was going, then I lost it,” said Speiser.
He said that this is be his last Winter Games.
“I don’t think [I will attend Sochi 2014], I'll be 37 years old.”
