Parallel Giant Slalom, Men

In 2002 Philipp Schoch (SUI) had won a surprise gold medal in parallel giant slalom, but by 2006 he was considered the best in the world at the event. His brother, Simon, had also competed at Salt Lake City, but had failed to advance to the match racing. But by 2006 he had also become one of the top slalom boarders in the world. In the qualifying round in Torino, they confirmed their status, placing 1-2, with Simon leading Philipp by almost half a second. Once into the match racing, they easily advanced to the semi-finals, winning all their races. Philipp won his semi easily in two races, but Simon was pushed by France’s Mathieu Bozzetto, as they split their races, and Simon advanced, but only by 0.07 seconds for the two runs, setting up the twin brother match for the gold medal. The final was a relatively easy victory for Philipp, winning both runs rather comfortably to defend his gold medal. He also became the first snowboarder to win two Olympic gold medals. The bronze medal went to Austria’s Sigi Graber, who defeated Bozzetto in two straight runs.