Olympic snowboarder Nick Baumgartner, 44, is planning to defend his mixed team snowboard cross title against some competitors who are half his age.
MILAN, Metropolitan City of Milan — American Olympic snowboarding champion Nick Baumgartner is preparing to defend his gold medal in mixed team snowboard cross Sunday.
The 44-year-old is defending his title against people half his age and says he doesn’t plan on slowing down or giving the “kids” an easy time at the Livigno Snow Park.
“When I come here to the Olympics at 44, no one expects me to win or do that well, so it takes the pressure away and I just go out there and I do everything I can,” he told the International Ski and Snowboard Federation. “No one’s outworking me. I put in a lot of work to be competitive with these kids and they know it.”
Baumgartner is the oldest Olympic snowboard medalist in history, winning gold at 40 years old in the inaugural Olympic mixed snowboard cross race 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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