Snowboard Cross: The Best Olympic Event!

There, I said it.  Snowboard Cross is the best Winter Olympic event, closely followed by the Halfpipe events.  For those of you that disagree, you should know that I have an inherent bias in favor of snowboarding.  Afterall, snowboarding was my first winter sport.  I picked it up nearly eight years ago!

Last night Seth Wescott beat out his competition and went home with a gold medal in snowboard cross.  It wasn't until the very end of the run that his spot on the top podium was secure, though.  In fact, he spent most of the race behind his competitors, including teammate Nate Holland, France's Tony Ramoin and Canada's Mike Robertson.  Wescott is a veteran snowboarder, however, and used his experience to tactically overcome Robertson in the final turns of the course.  Perhaps patience is a virtue.

Tonight the women will compete for gold.  American favorite Lindsey Jacobellis has a strong chance to win, but don't rule out Switzerland's Mellie Francon and Canada's Maelle Ricker.

Although popular now, snowboarding only recently took its place among the Winter Olympics.  Its first appearance at the Olympics was in 1998 in Nagano.  Team U.S.A. only won two of 12 medals, both bronze for halfpipe events.  And, at the time of the competition, snowboarding was not even allowed on the slopes of Mt. Yakebitai.  The 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics was a great year for snowboarding: Team U.S.A. won five of 12 medals.  Torino's 2006 Olympic games were even more grand: Team U.S.A. won seven out of 18 medals, including three of the six gold.

Hopefully Vancouver's Olympics will be even more rewarding for Team U.S.A!