The Canadian duo of Eliot Grondin and Meryeta O’Dine won the bronze medal in the mixed team snowboard cross on Saturday at the Beijing Olympics.
The American team formed by Nick Baumgartner and Kindsey Jacobellis won gold, thus becoming the first Olympic champions of this event, presented for the very first time.
On the second step of the podium, it is the Italian pair composed of Omar Visintin and Michela Moioli who will be awarded the silver medal.
The second Italian team formed by Lorenzo Sommariva and Caterina Carpano finished the competition in fourth place.
The final descent was marked by a collision between the Canadian O’Dine and the Italian Carpano. Far behind, the two athletes had to get up and resume the race. It was finally O’Dine who crossed the line in third place.
In front of them, Jacobellis and Moioli fought hard until the very last jump. The American crossed the finish line two tenths of a second ahead.
During the first run of the Final, Grondin was true to form with a great start. He momentarily pulled away from the peloton before being caught to cross the finish line in third place, 0.23 seconds behind the leader.
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