Gold medallists Lindsey Jacobellis (L) and Nick Baumgartner of Team USA celebrate during the snowboard cross mixed team flower ceremony at the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics at Genting Snow Park, Zhangjiakou, China, February 12, 2022. /CFP
Newly crowned Olympic champion Lindsey Jacobellis of the U.S. made it two for two on Saturday, nabbing the first ever Olympic gold in snowboard cross mixed team alongside veteran Nick Baumgartner.
Italy took silver with individual bronze medallist Omar Visintin and 2018 Olympic champion Michela Moioli, while Eliot Grondin and Meryete Odine of Canada added team bronze to their individual silver and bronze medals from earlier this week.
Read more: Snowboard cross set for thrilling mixed team at Beijing Olympics
It was a dramatic finish as Jacobellis, Moioli, Odine and Caterina Carpano of Italy 2 faced off in the second wave of the big final. Moioli led for most of the race but was overtaken by Jacobellis near the end, while Carpano and Odine crashed.
This makes it the second gold in four days for the American, who famously just missed out on an Olympic title in 2006 when she crashed right before the finish line.
Nick Baumgartner of the U.S. (2nd from R) leads the pack, followed by Italy's Omar Visintin (R), Canada's Eliot Grondin and Italy's Lorenzo Sommariva, during the snowboard cross mixed team big final at the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics in Zhangjiakou, China, February 12, 2022. /CFP
It also saw experience rewarded over youth, with Jacobellis and Baumgartner at age 36 and 40 the oldest athletes competing by far.
"We are looking younger than everybody," Baumgartner joked afterwards. "We're '80s babies," Jacobellis retorted with a laugh.
"The team event is always so much fun. It's a different energy at the top, and to be able to take this with someone I've been on the team with for over a decade - close to two decades now with Baum - it's incredible to accomplish this together," she added.
Moioli, who finished in eighth place in the women's race four days ago, said: "This medal is a big revenge after the individual race of Wednesday that didn't end the way I wanted."
"I'm super happy with this medal and super happy to do this with Omar, who's a friend and a champion. I'm really proud of him and the way we rode today and we deserved it.
Silver medallist Michela Moioli of Italy plays with her gift beside teammate Omar Visintin after the venue ceremony for the snowboard cross mixed team event of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games at Genting Snow Park, Zhangjiakou, China, February 12, 2022. /CFP
Visintin however admitted the nail-biting battle between his teammate and Jacobellis in the big final was almost too much. "Being down in the bottom, watching Michela fighting with Lindsey, I was so scared and it was so emotional."
Grondin was equally nervous after Odine's collision. "It was so stressful. When the crash happened they just kept filming the first two and I had no idea what was going on.”
"I didn't know if she was OK, or anything... And then I saw her name on the split times and I said, 'Come on'. Then she jumped to the finish line and I was like, 'Ahh, we did it'. It's crazy, unreal."
In each heat, the men rode first, followed by their female teammate.
The race however was made more difficult by steady snowfall throughout the morning, which athletes said slowed the course.
"In the morning it was super tough, super slow, but then when everybody rode it, it was getting faster and faster. I don't think anyone thought we were going to have snow today," Huw Nightingale, who finished sixth alongside world champion Charlotte Bankes for Great Britain, told CGTN after the race.
Lindsey Jacobellis of Team USA leads ahead of Michela Moioli of Italy in the snowboard cross mixed team final at he Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics at Genting Snow Park, Zhangjiakou, China, February 12, 2022. /CFP
"The fact we had so much snow was quite a surprise. It's super slow and we had to completely rethink our tactics and how we would race," added Kalle Koblet of Team Switzerland, which finished seventh.
It was the first time the snowboard cross mixed team event was included in the program at the Winter Olympics although it has already been held at World Cup level and at world championships, and it proved a thrilling race.
In total, 15 teams started in Saturday's competition, with several countries fielding more than one team.
(Reporting from Zhangjiakou)