Australian men upbeat about snowboard cross mixed team medal chances at Beijing Winter Olympics

Australia's male competitors in the snowboard cross will turn their attention to the mixed team competition at the Beijing Winter Olympics after all four failed to make an impression in their individual event.

Cam Bolton was the best-performed Australian, having qualified for the quarter-finals after leading from tape-to-tape in his round-of-32 heat.

However, Bolton was edged out on the line in his quarter-final, despite coming desperately close to breaking through into the top two through the last two corners.

«I've been feeling good all day… so that made it really, really disappointing in that run,» Bolton said. 

«I made a few mistakes. I sort of set it up, trying to go up the inside of the second-last turn and I probably needed to be about a foot further ahead.

»That's the difference between second and fourth, and going through the heat and not going through the heat."

Bolton said the fact no Australian could make it to the semi-final stage was just «the nature of the sport» in which any error is brutally exposed.

«I can tell you that there will be four boys that are bitterly disappointed with their results,» he said.

«I didn't see the other guys' runs, but I know that they're all capable of stronger results on their day and they've shown that over this season and in the last couple of seasons.

»I really think that Lambo (Adam Lambert) could have won today. He's riding so well and he's so strong here, so [am] very, very disappointed for him.

«There are a lot of variables in border cross and today is definitely a disappointing day for the team. So hopefully there is a little bit of redemption around the corner on Saturday in the team event.»

Lambert's exit was particularly cruel in a sport typified by the brutality of its