Insane: Omar Visintin wins OLYMPIC BRONZE!

Only sport writes such stories! On December 10th, exactly two months ago, Omar Visintin had a serious fall at the Snowboard Cross World Cup in Montafon (Austria). He suffered a concussion and injured his elbow so badly that he required surgery. But the 32-year-old never gave up his dream of the Olympic Games. He worked furiously for his great goal and was able to travel to Beijing after a lightning healing. That's where his big moment came: in a snowboard cross competition that couldn't be surpassed in terms of drama and excitement, the Algunder won the bronze medal.

This means that the second South Tyrolean precious metal at the Olympic Games has been secured. As is well known, on Sunday Dominik Fischnelller fulfilled his dream of winning a medal - also with bronze - in the single-seater luge competition. Visintin won the first ever Olympic men's medal for Italy's snowboard crossers. For South Tyrol it is the second snowboard medal in history: in 1998 Thomas Prugger won silver, albeit in the parallel slalom.

The podium: Eliot Grondin (left), Alessandro Hämmerle (center) and Omar Visintin. © ANSA / MAXIM SHIPENKOV

Visintin also broke a long-standing taboo on Thursday: the Algunder, who is one of the best in his profession, had so far remained without a medal in the individual discipline at major events. He only won silver in the mixed team event at the 2019 World Championships. Now comes the Olympic coronation. Like a panther on the hunt On Thursday, Omar only had to admit defeat to his long-term rival Alessandro Hämmerle from Austria and the Canadian Eliot Grondin. How Visintin got his medal is remarkable. In his runs, i.e. from the round of 32 to the final heat, the XNUMX-year-old never got off to an optimal start and usually followed his three competitors. But like a panther on the hunt, he always stalked forward, exploited the small gaps in the key passages in the style of an old hand and worked his way to the finale. The quarter-finals were particularly exciting, in which a photo finish had to decide who would advance.

Things initially didn't look good for Visintin in the final of the best four. Hämmerle and Grondin promptly pulled away, behind them the Austrian Julian Lüftner seemed to elude the South Tyrolean. But Visintin continued to catch up - also thanks to his extremely fast material - and finally made the decisive overtaking maneuver shortly before the end that brought him the bronze medal. The cheers at the finish were huge. The Burggräfler has shown that he particularly likes the track in the Secret Garden in Beijing: he had already raced to second place here at the dress rehearsal in November. Now Olympic precious metal hangs around his neck. Another chance for a medal The Winter Games are not over for Visintin: Thanks to this fantastic performance, he will probably also compete in the mixed competition with superstar Michela Moioli. The two Azzurri are considered hot candidates for a medal there. This race takes place on Saturday night. Olympics, snowboard cross men Pos Name Country GOLD Alessandro Hammerle TUE SILBER Eliot Grondin CAN BRONZE Omar Visintin ITA/Algund 4. Julian Lüftner TUE 5. Merlin Surget FRA 6. Jake Vedder USA 7. Lucas Eguibar ESP 8. Tommaso Leoni ITA 9. Martin Nörl GER 10. Nick Baumgartner USA 26. Lorenzo Sommariva ITA 31. Philip Ferrari ITA

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Insane: Omar Visintin wins OLYMPIC BRONZE!

What a spectacular race, what a fantastic performance by Omar Visintin: The Algunder snowboard crosser fulfilled a dream on Thursday and won Olympic bronze.

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