Canada's Grondin claims silver in snowboard cross

BEIJING — Eliot Grondin had not been challenged all day.

The Canadian cruised through every race on his way to the men's snowboard cross final in Zhangjiakou at the Beijing Olympics, where he fought hard for a silver medal that was a photo finish away from being gold.

Grondin of Sainte-Marie, Que., crossed the finish line 0.02 seconds behind Austria's Alessandro Hämmerle for Canada's second medal Thursday.

Just a few minutes earlier – and a few hundred kilometres away in the Yanqing zone – Jack Crawford held on tight for a bronze medal in Alpine combined.

The 20-year-old Grondin led every race heading into the big final. Then it was his turn to play catch-up. He stuck close to Hämmerle from start to finish, never letting the Austrian break away.

It stayed that way until Grondin plunged to the finish line for the nail-biting finish. After a few tense moments, the Canadian's silver medal was confirmed.

“I kind of knew I was going to be silver, but I tried everything I had," he said.

"Just to share the podium with Alessandro is amazing."

It was Canada's fourth medal in snowboarding at Beijing and second in as many days after Meryeta O'Dine captured bronze in the women's snowboard cross on Wednesday.

It was also Canada's 10th medal overall with Crawford's bronze.

Crawford finished third with a total time of two minutes 32.11 seconds for Canada's first-ever medal in Alpine combined.

The Toronto native entered the slalom portion of the event in second place after going 1:43.14 seconds in the downhill. He then did a 48.97 in the slalom.

Crawford dropped to third after four skiers, with another 20 to go. But nobody else could match his time.

Johannes Strolz of Austria won gold (2:31.43) while Aleksander Aamodt Kilde of Norway