Cross, Men

A popular snowboarding event, which had been highlighted during ESPN’s X-Games, boardercross consists of several boarders (usually four) competing on the same race course at the same time, in a match racing format. For the Olympics, 36 boarders started, with 32 advancing to the match racing and the eighth-finals. In the match racing, the top two racers in each heat moved on to the next round. The qualifying round consisted of two runs, with the best run of the two used to determine placements. Drew Neilson (CAN) led the qualifying but in round one of match racing, he placed only third in the first heat and did not advance. Semi-final two matched three Americans and France’s Paul-Henri De Le Rue, with Delerue and Seth Wescott advancing to the final. The other surviving semi-finalists were Slovakian Radoslav Židek and Spain’s Jordi Font. The final was won comfortably by Wescott, with Židek second, giving Slovakia its first every medal at the Olympic Winter Games. The consolation final was won by Canada’s Jasey-Jay Anderson, who had competed in the 1998 and 2002 Winter Olympics, and in 1998 had led the giant slalom after one run. In 2009, the venerable Anderson would finally win a World Championship in boardercross. Sweden’s Jonatan Johansson placed 12th overall in what would be his final race. Shortly after the Torino Olympics ended, he died in a training accident in Lake Placid.