Pierre Vaultier wins gold in men’s snowboarding cross race final
By Nir Regev
Pierre Vaultier of France took home the gold medal in the men’s snowboarding cross final for the second time at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang.
France’s Pierre Vaultier won the gold medal in men’s snowboarding cross (SBX in exciting fashion, leading from the very start. Australia’s Jarryd Hughes won the silver medal, just edging out Spain’s Regino Hernández, who took the bronze. Hughes finished 0.27 seconds behind Vaultier, and Hernández finished 0.38 seconds behind. Nick Baumgartner and Mck Dierdorff of Team USA came in fourth and fifth place, respectively, with Alex Pullin of Australia in the sixth spot.
This was Vaultier’s second consecutive gold medal in the event, previously winning the gold medal in Sochi back in 2014. The French snowboard cross star also won the 2017 World Championships in Sierra Nevada, Spain.
Needless to say, he was easily the favorite to win the competition, and he delivered on the promise.
MEDAL RESULT | Men's Snowboarding Cross Final
Pierre Vaultier
Jarryd Hughes
Regino Hernández
The competition as a whole was a beautiful display of snowboarding cross as a sport to the masses. Snowboarding cross is an aesthetically pleasing sport to watch that’ll get your adrenaline pumping. A thrill ride from start to finish. There’s also no other sport like it where the margin of error includes your fellow riders. Their unfortunate falls can become your own in mere seconds, taking you out of contention for an Olympic medal. In one particular race prior to the final, multiple riders went down leaving the visual of only one rider crossing the finish line unscathed.
The winner who maintained speed in front of the crash won the race around 16 seconds before second place, and around 27 seconds before third. As NBC’s commentator Todd Harris said, “In this sport, if somebody accidentally takes you out, all you can do is wait another four years for the next Winter Games.” Ouch, what a tough break. It’s that sense of unpredictability combined with speed and precise technique that made this snowboarding cross final one to remember at Pyeongchang 2018.
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