Jacob Bliss and Baumgartner won the championship.
When 36-year-old Lindsay Jacobellis struggled to reach the finish line in the snowboard slalom chase mixed team final on the 12th, her partner, Nick Baumgartner, who had finished the race, kept standing behind the finish line and muttering: Come On Girl! Being called a girl at the age of 36 may seem somewhat contradictory, but Baumgartner has no problem calling Jacobelis that way, as Baumgartner "celebrated" his 40th birthday on December 17, 2021.
Baumgartner's prayer obviously worked, and Jacob Baylis, who had already won the snowboard women's steeplechase at the Beijing Winter Olympics, was the first to cross the finish line in the final on the 12th, and the "old partners" who together reached the age of 76 became the first pair of players in the history of the Winter Olympics to win the snowboard sculpting mixed team competition.
The "old duo" celebrated the victory.
After the "old partner" successfully won the championship, the American media also carried out a statistic, in the history of the United States Winter Olympics, the older winter Olympic champion than them, or Frances Taylor (44 years old) who won the 4-person snowmobile championship at the 1948 St. Moritz Winter Olympics, the "old partner" thus became the oldest Winter Olympic champion in the United States in the past 74 years.
Becoming the oldest Winter Olympic champion in nearly 74 years may be enough to excite 36-year-old Jacob Baylis and 40-year-old Baumgartner, and perhaps even more excited about Baumgartner, who is already 40 years old. Because this is not only his first Winter Olympic gold medal, but also his first Winter Olympic medal. Although there are no more precise statistics, but it was not until the age of 40 that he won his first Winter Olympic medal (gold medal), Baumgartner may really have created a miracle of not much.
Baumgartner at the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics.
In fact, just a few days earlier, Baumgartner had suffered a defeat, and in the 10th men's steeplechase 1/4 final of the snowboarding men's steeplechase, Baumgartner was undoubtedly the next round after Austria's Julian Lüftner and the United States' Jack Vader. After that game, Baumgartner was not completely surrounded by frustration and disappointment, and in an interview with the American media, Baumgartner emotionally said, "I am 40 years old, my chances are running out." I had to do something better to end it. ”
Apparently, because he did win the championship with Jacob Baylis on the 12th, Baumgartner clearly fulfilled his promise. What's even more emotional is that after participating in four Winter Olympic Games, he finally won the gold medal in his last and last possible Winter Olympic games, and Baumgartner may be luckier than Sean White.
Jacob Bliss won two gold medals in Beijing.
Of course, luck also belongs to the "young" JacobIlis, who won the silver medal in her debut at the Winter Olympics in 2006, but has not won any medals in the following three Winter Olympics, and before joining forces with Baumgartner to win the gold medal, she had successfully "broken the gap" and won her first Winter Olympic gold medal in the final of the women's steeplechase race on the 9th.
The 36-year-old Jacob Baylis finally stood on the highest podium, and twice stood on the highest podium, and the 40-year-old Baumgartner stood on the highest podium in his possible "last dance", the "old partner" thus became two absolute heroes at the Beijing Winter Olympics, as for the touch and inspiration they brought to everyone, perhaps it is the American media that sighs: chasing dreams is never too late!