Snowboard men's steeplechase on Feb. 10. Xinhua News Agency
American Lindsay Jacobilis (left) and Nick Baumgartner celebrate winning the championship after a mixed team race in the snowboard sledge track on Feb. 12. Xinhua News Agency
View of the Olympic Village in Zhangjiakou Competition Area. Xinhua News Agency
Lindsay Jacobelis, 36, who won the women's steeplechase on snowboarding on February 9, represented the U.S. team with her older teammate, 41-year-old Nick Baumgartner, in the snowboard slalom chase mixed team event on the 12th. They are also the oldest female and male players in the competition.
As a new event of the Beijing Winter Olympics, the snowboard slalom chase mixed team event has a more balanced strength requirement for men and women, and it is difficult to break through from the competition no matter which "partial subject" of the men's and women's events. During the race, the male athletes are raced first, the male runners start at the same time, and the time gap between the women crossing the finish line is used as the time difference between the female runners of each team, so the results of the male runners who start first determine whether the female runners who start after the departure lose on the starting line, and finally the ranking of the female runners crossing the finish line is the final ranking.
Lindsay Jacobellis and Nick Baumgartner were extremely strong in the grand finals. The Italian team consisted of Omar Vicentin, the third place in the men's single event of the Winter Olympics, and Mikaela Mojoli, the women's single champion of the previous Winter Olympics, while the Canadian team was composed of the third place in the women's single event of the Winter Olympics, Meljeta Odin, and the runner-up in the men's single event of the Current Winter Olympics, Elliott Glendin.
Baumgartner, who took the lead, and the other three players chased after each other all the way, and the competition was very fierce. Baumgartner, who was third in the first half, came in first place with excellent performances from several jumps in the second half, but the lead was extremely weak. At the last jump, three people jumped out almost at the same time, and finally Baumgartner hit the line in first place. He was just 0.04 seconds ahead of second-placed Italy's Omar Vicentine.
The slight gap of 0.04 seconds adds to the excitement of the final competition. The previous women's champion Mikaela Mojoli and the current women's champion Lindsay Jacobilis are about to set off at the same time for a championship match.
The women's competition is almost a replica of the men's group. After the departure, Mikaela Mojoli quickly rebounded and established a lead with good handling of the wave road, and Lindsay Jacobellis fell to third place after the first half. But with good handling in the second half, she gradually caught up and took the lead, eventually winning by 0.16 seconds.
In today's game, the two veterans will have to deal with strong competitors and face the test of heavy snow that has been falling since the morning.
The new snow makes the taxi faster, and it takes more effort to stop turning and pedaling. The change in weather conditions is obviously more unfriendly to veterans. But for veterans, we often talk about two words - experience. When talking about the impact of the new snow on the game after the game, Baumgartner said: "The weather is really not very favorable to us, but we are all 'veterans' in dealing with this weather. Our previous racing experience tells us that in this unfavorable situation, coupled with fierce competition, we need to skate close to the opponent, while also paying attention to the choice of route, to ensure that we do not slip until the line is crossed. It's not easy, but we've all been through it too many times. ”
His partner, Lindsay Jacobellis, also has a head start on this issue: "I try to think back to the days when I was in this situation before and put my experience into the game. As Baumgartner said, we need to get close to the opponents and get a certain forward speed from them, so I pay attention to the position of the landing every time I jump to make sure that I am still close to them after landing. ”
Baumgartner shed tears of sadness after being eliminated in the men's event, and today, when Lindsay Jacobilis crossed the finish line first, he wept with joy. "Today is a different tear. It is precisely because there are times when you feel frustrated and disappointed that a day like today is so wonderful. That's why when you encounter adversity, you can't give up. You have to move on because good things are coming. Baumgartner said.
The silver and bronze medals in this event went to Italy and Canada respectively.
(Reporter Wang Dong, Huang Xiaoyi)
Source: Guangming Daily