Over decades on the mountain, Team USA Olympic snowboarder Nick Baumgartner has seen it all: the ups, the downs, success and heartbreak.
But, even with his extensive experience preparing him for the unthinkable, his result in the men’s snowboard cross was tough to take.
What went down
Baumgartner, the oldest snowboarder in Team USA history at 44 years old, came just shy of earning an Olympic medal after finishing .08 seconds out of contention during Thursday’s semifinal heat. It was a devastating conclusion for the former gold-medal winner.
Still, Baumgartner took solace in the fact that he came so close to outdueling two of the best athletes in the sport, Austria’s Alessandro Haemmerle and Canada’s Eliot Grondin.
“It was super fun racing those guys, Baumgartner told reporters after the race. “Those are the two fastest guys in our sport right now, and to go out there at 44 years old and almost nip them at the line?
“Then [Haemmerle] went on to win the Olympics. So, had I beaten him, I would have won the Olympics. That’s old-man math, and I’m going to stick with that.”
Haemmerle took home the gold medal, while Grondin wound up earning the Silver medal, and Austria’s Jakob Dusk earned bronze. Baumgartner finished seventh.
“I think it goes to show the kind of work that I put in to stay here,” added Baumgartner.
It’s the fifth straight Olympic Games for the Michigan native.