Pierre Vaultier Wins Gold Medal for Men's Snowboard Cross at Olympics 2018

France's Pierre Vaultier cemented his status as an Olympic legend at the 2018 Games in Pyeongchang, South Korea.

Vaultier prevailed against a loaded final field in the men's snowboard cross competition at Phoenix Park, defending the gold medal he won in the 2014 Sochi Games in the process.

Australia's Jarryd Hughes and Spain's Regino Hernandez captured the silver and bronze, respectively, in the event that aired live in the United States on Wednesday. Americans Nick Baumgartner and Mick Dierdorff finished just off the podium in fourth and fifth place but impressed by reaching the big final run.

Vaultier proved to be the best boarder in a long day of competition that included individual timing runs, 1/8 final elimination heats, quarterfinal elimination heats and semifinal elimination heats in addition to the small final and big final.

The three medalists pulled ahead in the middle portion of the final race, and Baumgartner, Dierdorff and Australia's Alex Pullin—who finished sixth—all wiped out when attempting to make up ground during one of the jumps.

It was a fitting result for snowboard cross, considering it resembles NASCAR on boards at times. After the individual runs to determine seeding entering the elimination heats, five and then eventually six competitors go at once with the top three advancing to the next round in a format that leads to a number of crashes with sharp turns and jumps in a crowded field.

It was an unfortunate end for the two Americans who made the final, especially since the country has been so dominant in the snowboarding events in Pyeongchang to this point with Shaun White (men's halfpipe), Jamie Anderson (women's slopestyle), Red Gerard (men's slopestyle) and Chloe Kim (women's halfpipe) all winning gold.

That they even made it to the same field as Vaultier and Pullin is a credit to their talent, as the gold medalist is also the reigning world champion. According to Shawn Smith of NBC Olympics, Vaultier won the gold in Sochi despite having a torn ACL.

As for Pullin, he is a two-time world champion and came into the Olympics in the second position of the World Cup rankings, per Smith, but he faltered with the medals hanging in the balance.

Vaultier wasted little time sending a message to the rest of the field when he finished with the top qualifying time in the individual runs and carried the momentum throughout the day.

The chaos elsewhere started in the five- and six-man races, as medal contender Omar Visintin of Italy crashed in the 1/8 final and Baumgartner survived a scary scene in one of the semifinal races.

Baumgartner was sitting in pole position but wiped out, appearing to end his medal chances. However, five racers in total crashed, including Dierdorff, and the two Americans were able to recover and clinch the final two spots from their heat behind Hernandez.

Despite surviving the drama and advancing in the semifinals, Hernandez and the two United States representatives were no match for the dominant Vaultier as he further bolstered his position as one of the all-time greats.