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Wescott wins cross debut
Compiled from staff and wire reports
Published February 17, 2006
ON THE SNOW: American riders continued their mastery of the snowboard events as Seth Wescott of Carrabassett Valley, Maine, won the debut of men's snowboard cross. Radoslav Zidek finished second to win Slovakia's first Winter Olympic medal ever, and Paul-Henri Delerue of France was third.
Wescott said his Olympic dream began in 1998 when he tried to make the halfpipe team. "Falling short of that, it's been a long road, a lot of years of pipe and a lot of other years of boardercross," he said.
Wescott, 29, worked through two qualifying runs in heavy snowfall in the morning, then three elimination runs. In the four-man final, Zidek got out to a quick lead, with Wescott not far behind. About halfway through the race, Wescott made a daring move to slip past Zidek on a curve.
"I had the momentum going right then, and I didn't want to wait to see if there was going to be another opportunity," Wescott said.
The thrilling finish caused some to refer to the duel between Wescott and Zidek as one of the most exciting finals in recent snowboard cross history.
"It was the best race I've ever seen," said Peter Foley, coach of the U.S. team.
Wescott led the rest of the way, though on several occasions Zidek seemed to draw almost even.
QUICK HITS: Other American finishers were Jason Smith (sixth), Nate Holland (14th) and Graham Watanabe (eliminated in the round of 32).
UP NEXT: Today, women's cross.
[Last modified February 17, 2006, 02:15:35]
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