Haemmerle powers back to retain Olympic snowboard cross title

Austria's Alessandro Haemmerle retained his Olympic men's snowboard cross title in dramatic style on Thursday, producing a late burst of speed to scramble across the line just ahead of Canada's Eliot Grondin.

Alessandro Haemmerle, 32, had trailed France's Aidan Chollet and Canadian world champion Grondin for much of the final in Livigno but clinched gold with a stunning surge, crossing the line just 0.03 seconds ahead of the silver medallist.

It was a repeat result from the 2022 Beijing Games, where Haemmerle also topped the podium following a photo finish with Grondin.

Austria's Jakob Dusek finished third, with Chollet forced to settle for fourth after leading for much of the race.