A foot or two decided Olympic gold in men's snowboard cross Thursday as Austria's Alessandro Haemmerle beat Canadian Eliot Grondin by the nose length of his board in an electrifying big final finish at the 2022 Winter Games.
Haemmerle, a three-time reigning overall World Cup winner, stuck behind 20-year-old Grondin for the first half of the race before overtaking him on the inside of a turn. The two battled it out the rest of the way, and Haemmerle threw his board across the finish line first to take the victory.
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Omar Visintin of Italy took bronze, while No. 2 seed Julian Lueftner, Haemmerle's teammate, finished fourth and off the podium.
American Jake Vedder reached the semifinals but didn't advance, finishing sixth overall. The 2016 Youth Olympic gold medalist and 2018 junior world champion was a late addition to the U.S. team; he replaced 2014 Olympic bronze medalist Alex Deibold, who was injured in a crash last month.
SEE MORE: Vedder places third in semi for top U.S. finish in men's SBX
Earlier in the quarterfinals, Vedder knocked out teammate and medal contender Nick Baumgartner, who at age 40 would've become the oldest snowboarder to reach an Olympic podium had he done what the top three riders did.
SEE MORE: USA's Vedder advances, Baumgartner ousted in SBX quarters
USA's Mick Dierdorff, the 2019 world champion, crashed out in a separate quarterfinal heat, occupying the No. 2 spot for most of the race before losing his balance on a turn and falling over, taking down German Martin Noerl in the process.
SEE MORE: American Mick Dierdorff crashes out in SBX quarterfinals
Haemmerle's gold comes after compatriot Benjamin Karl's parallel giant slalom victory on Tuesday, not only the Austria snowboarding team's second title in three days but its first two ever.
SEE MORE: How to watch Snowboarding at the 2022 Winter Olympics on NBC and Peacock
SEE MORE: Men's Snowboard Cross Finals