Reporter鈥檚 notebook: Finding the 鈥榯eam鈥� in snowboard cross
The Summer Games have far more team sports than the Winter Games, which lean heavily on individuals rocketing themselves, solo, off mountainsides.
But the four members of the United States snowboard cross team have largely credited each other for making it to the Livigno Snow Park in Italy this week.
Snowboard cross involves four snowboarders in colored jerseys racing simultaneously down a narrow, steep course filled with 鈥渞ollers鈥� (consecutive bumps) and jumps. It is a high-speed, chaotic competition as competitors battle one another in several heats, sometimes crashing and taking each other out, or squatting on their boards to catch speed for photo finishes. But American snowboarder Nick Baumgartner says he knows his role on the team as a veteran of the sport in his mid-40s, and that鈥檚 to mentor his three teammates who are close to his son鈥檚 age.
After his teammate Nathan Pare was visibly disappointed after being disqualified for making contact with a competitor鈥檚 board, Mr. Baumgartner said he was confident there would be 鈥渁 lot of victories in his future,鈥� and that, for his part, he was 鈥渆xcited to be along for his ride.鈥�
It鈥檚 clear that the snowboard cross bonds are strong.
鈥淲e travel the world together, we live together, we train together,鈥� team member Cody Winters tells the Monitor in an interview. 鈥淚t鈥檚 an individual event, but we feel as one. His wins are my wins. My losses are their losses.鈥�
If there were any testing of this sentiment, it came at the bottom of the course Thursday, as one by one the U.S. team was knocked out of the finals. Mr. Winters missed the quarterfinals after he was passed by teammate Jake Vedder. But if he had to be inched out by anyone, Mr. Winters tells the Monitor he鈥檚 glad it was a teammate.
The winner, Alessandro Haemmerle of Austria, became the first man to win consecutive Olympic titles in men鈥檚 snowboard cross at the 2026 Milan Cortina Winter Games.