Snowboarding-Austria's Haemmerle narrowly grabs gold in men's snowboard cross

ZHANGJIAKOU, China :Austria's Alessandro Haemmerle won gold at the men's snowboard cross final on Thursday at the Beijing Games, finishing ahead of Canadian Eliot Grondin in a neck-and-neck final race.

Haemmerle, who came in seventh at the 2018 Pyeongchang Games, won the final race by 0.02 seconds, beating out Grondin, who came in 36th at the Olympics four years ago.

"The race was super tough," Haemmerle said.

"Looking back and seeing the (playback) video I didn't realise it was this close," the Austrian said, saying it came as a "huge relief" to win such a tight race.

Canada's Grondin, who won silver, had led Thursday's races from the seeding runs, bolting over the course's opening technical section faster than all the other competitors.

In the final race, Grondin, 20, started in the lead again, but 28-year old Haemmerle gained on him. The two boarders were side by side, duking it out over jumps and tight turns, but the Austrian edged out the Canadian right at the finish.

"I'm so happy to land on the podium at the Olympics with guys I've been battling for years," Grondin said, adding that he had grown up watching Italy's Omar Visintin compete.

"It's crazy as I don't even know what's the feeling," he said.

Visintin, 32, fell back in the final and could never make up the time, finishing after Grondin to take the bronze.

The retirement of France's Pierre Vaultier, who won two golds at the Pyeongchang and Sochi Games, opened up the field for new boarders to take the crown. Spain's Regino Hernandez, who won bronze four years ago, was also absent from Thursday's starting line.

American Nick Baumgartner, one of the favourites to make the podium, was winning in the quarterfinal until his board made contact with another rider and