Snowboarders Make A Scene Canadian Wins Sport’s First Gold

The once-renegade sport of snowboarding crashed into the Olympic mainstream in rousing fashion as Canada’s Ross Rebagliati shredded his way through heavy fog to win gold in the men’s giant slalom.

Italy’s Thomas Prugger took the silver and Switzerland’s Ueli Kestenholz the bronze as the United States was shut out of the medals Saturday.

Fog and snow postponed the men’s downhill. More snow, and winds up to 25 mph were forecast for mountain venues. The first medals of the Games were awarded in the women’s 15-kilometer classical cross country ski race, won by Russian Olga Danilova. The sport of snowboarding was the real winner, taking its spot on the Olympic stage for the first time and injecting the Games with a shot of youthful vitality.

Rebagliati, who was eighth after the first run, carved a super second run to win in an aggregate time of 2 minutes, 3.96 seconds. Prugger was second in 2:03.98 and Kestenholz third in 2:04.08.

First-run leader Jasey-Jay Anderson of Canada and Chris Klug of the United States, who was tied for second, both struggled in foggy conditions on the second run and finished out of the medals.

Klug nearly fell, touching the snow with one hand to stay upright and losing valuable time. He finished the second run in 1:05.87 and wound up sixth at 2:05.25.

“Right at the middle of the steep section I caught my arm in the bottom of the banner and it flung me up and spun me,” Klug said. “It got me off line a little bit.”

Klug, back from Achilles’ surgery last year, went all-out on his first run.

“I didn’t want to be fourth,” Klug said. “It was podium or nothing. Cash or crash.”

Mike Jacoby, the sky-diving, banjo-playing, mountain biking U.S. veteran, lost an edge near the end of the first run and was out of medal contention in 22nd place.

“You can either sally through it, or go for it,” Jacoby said. “I’m not here to sally.”

Jacoby, 28, found solace in the thought that children all over the world were seeing his sport on television.

“There’s a whole new generation of children who haven’t been on the slopes, who’ve been watching on TV and maybe this will motivate them to grow up and be snowboarders,” he said.

Anderson slipped on his second round and finished 13th in 2:11.33.

With their rebel image, hip-hop look, grunge lingo and thrash-metal music, snowboarders certainly bring a new dimension to the often staid Olympics.

“The Japanese are stoked on it. I certainly was,” Klug said. “It really showcased the event really well. People around the world are starting to realize, hey, this is an exciting sport.”

But the weather almost wrecked the party.

The first run was held under bright, sunny skies at Mount Yakebitai, but the second run was nearly wiped out by the same front that postponed the men’s downhill in Hakuba earlier in the day.

The second run was halted after five competitors went down. The race resumed 15 minutes later despite continuing poor visibility.

Rebagliati was the first competitor down after the delay and he put down a time of 1:04.09 that held up for the gold.

Two other top favorites, Nicolas Conte and Christophe Sugara of France, fell on the second run.

“The visibility obviously played a factor in the second run,” Klug said. “It was pretty challenging to see, especially in the top flats.”

In the women’s giant slalom tonight, self-described “old ladies” Sondra van Ert (33 years old) and Betsy Shaw (32) link up with Lisa Kosglow (24) and Rosey Fletcher (22) for the strong American team.