VANCOUVER – Mike Robertson won silver in the men’s snowboard cross final, up against France’s Tony Ramoin (bronze) and Americans Nate Holland and Seth Wescott – who took the gold by a sliver. Canadian Rob Fagan came in fifth.
Four Canadians advanced to the quarterfinal round: Rob Fagan, Francois Boivin, Mike Robertson, and Drew Neilson. Rob Fagan and Mike Robertson were the only Canadians left in today’s snowboard cross event semifinal. In the 1/8 finals, fastest qualifier Alex Pullin of Australia and American Nick Baumgartner fell in their heats, and failed to advance.
Earlier, in the qualifying round, Canada’s Mike Robertson posted the third-fastest time.
Only Australia’s Alex Pullin and the United States’ Graham Watanabe got down Cypress Mountain quicker. Robertson, a native of Canmore, Alta., threatened
to take the lead during his second run when his split time bettered the one established by Pullin in the first round. However, Robertson couldn’t hold
that pace through the second half of the course.
Pullin enters this afternoon’s heats as the top seed with a time of one minute, 20.15 seconds, followed by Watanabe (1:20.53) and Robertson (1:21.24). Canadians Rob Fagan, Drew Neilson and Francois Boivin also qualified for the top 32. Fagan (Squamish, B.C.) sits 10th, followed by Neilson (North Vancouver) in 11th and Boivin (Jonquiere, Que.) in 15th.
The format now pits riders in head-to-head competition with riders racing four at a time. The top two in each race continue to advance through opening heats, quarterfinals and semifinals.
"Our boards are running fast and we¹re all good riders," Neilson said of the Canadian contingent.
"We all have a good shot at this race. With this crowd behind us, and the sound that they’re generating, from halfway down the course you can hear it. It’s just kind of vibrating up the mountain."
Pullin was the first racer down the hill Monday and established a time to beat of 1:21.17. Nobody did until 14 riders into the second round when Watanabe blasted into top spot with his 1:20.53 clocking. But just two riders later, Pullin regained the pole position.
"We had the radio up there and we heard the time," said Pullin. "Graham threw down a really good run. I said, ‘You know what? I didn’t have a perfect run last round.’ I knew it would hold on pretty well (to qualify for
the top 32) but as soon as it got knocked off, I went for No. 1 again."
American Seth Wescott, the defending Olympic champion, placed 17th in qualifying and finds himself in the opening heat with Pullin, Switzerland’s Fabio Caduff and the Czech Republic¹s David Bakes. Wescott described Monday’s course conditions as "night and day better" than they were during weekend training when riders slogged through slushy snow. Still, the snow remains wetter than some riders are used to.
"Normally, you’d only ever run in these conditions racing in April with a spring race," said Wescott, "so it’s a totally different game."
Six gold medals for snowboarding will be won over the course of the six days of competition.
Team Canada for snowboarding is:
The full schedule for snowboarding competitions is (all times are in Pacific Standard Time Zone):
Mon Feb 15, 2010
Tue Feb 16, 2010
Wed Feb 17, 2010
Thu Feb 18, 2010
Fri Feb 26, 2010
Sat Feb 27, 2010
Snowboarding events are being held on Cypress Mountain, in West Vancouver in an area known as ‘the North Shore.’ Unseasonably warm temperatures have eroded the snow base at this venue, and event crews covered some spots with hay to prevent more melt. Snowmakers and trucks of snow from neighbouring mountains were also brought in to develop the venue.
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