Team USA won gold during the event’s debut in 2022. One of the two champions returned to defend the Olympic title in the 2026 Winter Games. Here’s how the U.S. did.
MILAN, Metropolitan City of Milan — Two pairs of Team USA snowboarders competed Sunday in the mixed team snowboard cross event to defend America’s title after winning gold in the 2022 Olympics.
Nick Baumgartner topped podium in the 2022 Beijing Winter Games with partner Lindsey Jacobellis during the event’s Olympic debut. Baumgartner, who was 40 years old when he won gold, is the oldest Olympic snowboard medalist in history.
Baumgartner, now 44, returned to compete again in 2026, pairing up with 33-year-old Faye Thelen, but they were were unable to defend the title Sunday. They were eliminated in the quarterfinal round.
Nathan Pare, 21, and Stacy Gaskill, 25, also represented Team USA on Sunday. Pare finished first in his heat, but Gaskill tumbled after taking a turn too tight and fell forward, disqualifying the duo from the final run.
Great Britain’s Huw Nightingale and Charlotte Bankes clinched the gold medal, while Italy and France won silver and bronze, respectively.
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 suggesting this could be was his final 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.”
How does mixed team snowboard cross work?
Sixteen teams of mixed pairs, one woman and one man, 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.