The winter Olympics | Baumgartner: Enjoy the tears of victory

On Feb. 12, Nick Baumgartner on the podium hugged Lindsay Jacobilis next to him. This scene is reminiscent of the way he was in tears two days ago.

On February 10, after the men's steeplechase pursuit of the 1/4 final at the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, 40-year-old American veteran Baumgartner shed tears of sadness. Baumgartner, who started from the fourth group, finished third in the group and missed the semi-finals. He said, "I've let everyone down! ”

In the eyes of others, Baumgartner is a sports master. In high school, he was not only a Michigan athletics champion, but also a Michigan and National Wrestling Champion; in college, he played for the Northern Michigan University football team and practiced snowboarding. Since then, in addition to snowboarding, Baumgartner has also been involved in cross-country racing, American football, beach volleyball, mountain biking and golf, and snowboarding is still his favorite, and he dreams of one day being like the 2006 and 2010 Winter Olympics snowboarding men's steeplechase champion, American athlete Seth Westcott, who will be on the top podium of the Winter Olympics.

However, at the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics, Baumgartner only ranked 20th in the men's steeplechase event on snowboarding, 25th at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, and finally made a breakthrough at the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics to reach the final of the gold medal. But that final left him with deep regrets. After the departure of the six grand finalists, although Baumgartner only ranked fifth, but with his light jump and excellent curve sliding line, he once chased to third place, and he could reach the podium if he kept it, and even the medal dream could be wilder. But soon he collided with two runners and fell on the track together. Baumgartner quickly got up, unwilling to give up on his dream. However, despite all his efforts, he was the fourth to cross the finish line. Baumgartner lay on the ground, his dream a short distance away. At the age of 36, will he continue? He remembered the words he often said to his son Langdon: "You have to follow your dreams so that you can create your own opportunities in life." And dreams are big enough to work hard enough. ”

So, when Baumgartner came to Beijing, he was the oldest man in the snowboard tracks. "It's incredible that I'll be selected for the Winter Olympic national team." He said, "It would be unbelievable if I could get a medal, but that's exactly what I wanted." ”

Because of this, Baumgartner was very sad after the men's steeplechase pursuit of the 1/4 final at the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics was eliminated. But he also had a chance to prove himself, and that was the mixed team competition. "I can't tell you how much pressure there is when you know someone like Lindsay is behind you." Jacob Baylis is the women's steeplechase champion in snowboarding at the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, but Baumgartner has no intention of rubbing a medal or becoming a burden to his teammates. During the game, he won the starting advantage for Jacob Baylis, and eventually watched his teammates take the lead in the line. "We're the oldest gold medal winners to hug each other." After the game, Baumgartner shed tears again, but he said: "Those tears are much better than two days ago. ”

Source Client The Winter Olympics | Reporters Li Yuanfei, Chen Jiakun, and Deng Fangjia

Edited by Kang Dian

Process Editor Liu Weili