giulia zardini lacedelli: Haemmerle edges Grondin in photo finish to retain men's snowboardcross crown
ALIVE in the closing meters, Austria's Alessandro Haemmerle fended off Canada's Eliot Grondin to successfully defend his Olympic men's snowboardcross title on Thursday (ET) in Livigno, Italy. The final came down to a hairline board thrust as the two rivals barreled toward the finish, with Haemmerle replicating the razor-fine drama of four years earlier.
Photo finish and the decisive moments
The championship heat unfolded as a four-rider sprint across banks and rollers built to punish any hesitation. Grondin appeared poised to reverse the Beijing 2022 outcome as he surged over the final roll, but Haemmerle narrowed the gap in the closing meters and leaned his board across the line at just the right instant. The margin mirrored the narrowness of their previous Olympic duel: Haemmerle's winning leap in 2022 was separated by 0. 02 seconds.
In snowboardcross, split-second timing and fearless line choice determine outcomes. This final was a study in controlled aggression—each racer hunting the clean exit from jumps and the optimal tuck into the last straight. The photo finish crystallized how small differences in posture and board placement can flip victory in this discipline.
Podium, semifinals and the rest of the field
Jakob Dusek completed an Austrian one-two with a tenacious ride to claim bronze, denying France's Aidan Chollet a place on the podium when all four riders still had a shot approaching the line. The result underscored the depth of contenders in the event: positioning, contact and momentum over the final bumps spelled podium fortunes.
American veteran Nick Baumgartner, the 2022 mixed snowboardcross gold medallist, advanced to the semifinals at age 44 before bowing out. His run through the rounds reinforced his enduring competitiveness in a sport that favors split-second youth and fearless maneuvering. Grondin came into this race on a roll, having won the 2024–25 Crystal Globe and claimed the 2025 world championship, where Haemmerle had taken bronze. That recent form made the duel all the more compelling.
Rivalry and ramifications
The consecutive showdowns between Haemmerle and Grondin are shaping into one of snowboardcross's defining rivalries. Each race pushes both athletes to refine tactics: when to contest an inside line, when to bail to avoid contact, and how to find the marginal gains on bumps and banked turns. Haemmerle's repeat gold cements his status as the man to beat at the moment, while Grondin's continued presence at the very front suggests future finals will be just as tight.
Beyond individual hardware, the outcome carries national significance for Austria, which also celebrated a defending champion in the men's parallel giant slalom on Sunday. The pairing of Haemmerle and Dusek on the snowboardcross podium highlights a strong contingent of riders who can execute under the pressure of the bracket format, where the first two across advance and every run is effectively a knockout.
For spectators, the event delivered exactly what snowboardcross promises: crashes narrowly averted, tactical shifts mid-run, and a finish so close it required photographic verification. That drama, combined with the evolving back-and-forth between two elite competitors, ensures snowboardcross remains one of the most breathless events on the Olympic program.
The immediate takeaway is simple: Haemmerle held his nerve when it mattered most, and the rivalry with Grondin will now be measured in a string of near-misses and narrow wins that could define this era of snowboardcross.
