The oldest American snowboarder at the Winter Olympics barely missed a shot at a medal in a heartbreaking photo finish.
Nick Baumgartner, competing at his fifth Olympics at 44, failed to gain a spot in the snowboard cross finals by .08 seconds on Thursday in Livigno, barely behind Alessandro Haemmerle of Austria for third place in the semifinals.
Two riders in each four-member race advance to the finals, with the gold medal ultimately going to Haemmerle.
Canada’s Eliot Grondin, who had defeated both Haemmerle and Baumgartner in their semifinal heat, took the silver medal, with Austria’s Jakob Dusek earning the bronze.
“It was super fun racing those guys,” Baumgartner told reporters. “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.”
Baumgartner had won gold in mixed team snowboard cross at 40 at the 2022 Games in Beijing, already making the Michigan native the oldest snowboarder to earn a medal in Olympic history. After defying the odds, Baumgartner hasn’t ruled out the possibility of continuing to continue racing long enough to compete at the 2034 Games in Salt Lake City, when he will be 52.
2026 WINTER OLYMPICS
“The longer I do this, the more people that I can inspire,” Baumgartner said recently. “If I’m 52 years old in 2034 and I’m still doing this, you have no excuse to go chase your dreams.”
Baumgartner, whose first Winter Olympics appearance came in 2010 in Vancouver, finished third in Thursday’s consolation final for seventh place overall.
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