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Veteran Olympic snowboarder Nick Baumgartner, at 44, is gearing up to defend his mixed team snowboard cross championship against rivals significantly younger than himself.
MILAN, Metropolitan City of Milan — American Olympic snowboarding star Nick Baumgartner is set to compete for his gold medal in the mixed team snowboard cross event this Sunday.
At 44, Baumgartner is racing against competitors half his age and is determined not to make it easy for these younger athletes at the Livigno Snow Park.
“Coming to the Olympics at 44, people don’t expect me to win or even perform exceptionally, which eases the pressure. I go out there and give it my all,” he shared with the International Ski and Snowboard Federation. “No one outworks me. I’ve invested a lot of effort to stay competitive with these youngsters, and they are well aware of it.”
Baumgartner holds the record as the oldest Olympic snowboard medalist, clinching gold at age 40 during the first-ever Olympic mixed snowboard cross event at the 2022 Beijing Winter Games.
Baumgartner reached the snowboard cross semifinals Thursday before being eliminated at the Milan Cortina Games. In each heat of four athletes, only the top two advanced to the finals, and Baumgartner placed third in a photo finish behind Alessandro Haemmerle of Austria.
Haemmerle, the defending gold medalist in the individual event, went on to win gold. He was followed by Canada’s Eliot Grondin with silver and fellow Austrian Jakob Dusek with bronze.
Baumgartner finished seventh. Afterward, he talked about the race and his future in the sport.
“If you find something you love, it doesn’t matter how much work you have to put in,” he said in an interview with NBC. “You’re happy to do it, and I’ll continue to do it because I love what I do. … I never had so much fun losing in my life. It’s a great time. I get to represent my country and have fun with my friends.”
Baumgartner is among the rare group of Team USA athletes competing in their fifth Olympics. When asked what’s next, he addressed a comment he heard on the broadcast suggested this could be was his last Olympics.
“It’s absolutely not,” he said, setting the record straight.
“Until I’m not having fun or until the body steps in and says you’re done, I’m going to continue to put the work in and I’m going to continue to redefine what people think is possible,” he said.
Baumgartner will team up with five-time Olympian Faye Thelen, 33.
How does mixed team snowboard cross work?
16 two-athlete teams consisting of both one man and one woman will compete in the event.
Men snowboard first, then the women take over once their teammate crosses a line. Women start their runs in a staggered format with whatever time advantage their male teammates give from the first half. The first woman to cross the finish line wins for the team.
In the Milan Cortina games, there are four heats, and the best two teams advance into the semi-finals, then the finals in a bracket-like elimination.
The mixed team snowboard cross quarterfinals begin at 7:45 p.m. ET Sunday, the semifinals will start around 8:15 p.m. ET, and the finals will begin around 8:40 p.m. ET.
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