The defending Olympic champion, the snowboarder from Serre-Chevalier, Pierre Vaultier, kept his gold medal on Thursday morning at the Olympic Winter Games.
And six medals for France! This Thursday, February 15, the Frenchman Pierre Vaultier won the gold medal in snowboardcross at the Olympic Winter Games in Pyeongchang . It retains its Olympic title won at the previous Olympics in Sochi.
Serre-Chevalier’s “rider”, a favorite of the event, beat Australia’s Jarryd Hughes and Spaniard Regino Hernandez.
.@Pierre_Vaultier defends his Olympic title in thrilling fashion and takes home #Gold at #PyeongChang2018 in Men’s #SBX! @FranceOlympique
More here: https://t.co/d70uhBZtlL pic.twitter.com/UrrPmZRDH8
— Olympic Channel (@olympicchannel) February 15, 2018
“The day is coming to a close. It’s a nice second gold medal. It’s hard to say how I feel, I’ve been on the verge of tears since I crossed the finish line. These are big emotions, “he reacted, smiling, at the microphone of France TV.
Fall in half
Leader of the World Cup, world champion in 2017 and great favorite of the event, Vaultier, who started the day by finishing first in the classification round, failed however to not see the final, after its fall in half.
Pierre Vaultier s’est qualifié pour la finale du snowboard cross malgré une chute dans sa série ! #PyeongChang2018 #Francetvsport #Snowboard
Suivez le direct vidéo :https://t.co/CDotfIRGpd pic.twitter.com/liZYCBbHxq
— France tv sport (@francetvsport) February 15, 2018
“I had a lucky start, when we see what happened in the semifinals. I was in the game, but I was unlucky. It was quite unexpected to find myself on the floor and go to the finals. My coach told me, “You have a good start, nothing can happen to you. You smash the run and then nobody can say anything.” Well, that’s the case, “he said.
He led from start to finish the final which ended in an explanation between three competitors, after a fall has eliminated three others from the race to the podium.
The 30-year-old gives France its third gold medal after Martin Fourcade and Perrine Laffont .
