Austria's Haemmerle sneaks home for Olympic snowboard cross gold
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Austria’s Alessandro Haemmerle narrowly claimed men’s snowboard cross gold at the Beijing Olympics
ZHANGJIAKOU (AFP) - Austria’s Alessandro Haemmerle narrowly claimed men’s snowboard cross gold at the Beijing Olympics on Thursday, squeezing past Canada’s Eliot Grondin by a fraction of a second in the final.
Grondin took an early lead in the fast and furious four-man race at Genting Snow Park, only for Haemmerle to steadily reel him in.
Grondin made a frantic late lunge for the finish but Haemmerle held him off, grabbing the gold medal by the finest of margins.
"I was shocked at the first moment when I looked up at the video -- a huge relief," said Haemmerle, who becomes the first Austrian ever to win an Olympic snowboard cross medal.
Snowboard cross involves four racers duelling it out over jumps and bumps in a hectic race to the finish line.
Haemmerle said the final was "super exhausting" and that the course "wanted everything off your body".
Grondin said he knew he was running out of time towards the end but "still tried to push" as the finish line approached.
"It was super close but I knew when I pushed I didn’t get it," said the 20-year-old.
"It’s crazy -- I’m so happy to land on the podium at the Olympics with two guys that I’ve been admiring for years."
Italy’s Omar Visintin won bronze after edging ahead of Austria’s Julian Lueftner in a similarly fierce battle for third place.
Only two men had previously won Olympic men’s snowboard cross gold medals -- American Seth Wescott in 2006 and 2010, and Frenchman Pierre Vaultier in 2014 and 2018.
Vaultier retired before the 2022 Games.
Australian Jarryd Hughes, who won silver at the 2018 Pyeongchang Games, was eliminated in the round of 16 after a mid-race crash.
