Grondin wins second straight Olympic silver in men’s snowboard cross

Eliot Grondin has won his second straight Olympic medal in men’s snowboard cross, taking silver at Milano Cortina 2026.

In almost an exact repeat of how the Beijing 2022 final ended, Austria’s Alessandro Haemmerle just beat Grondin to the finish line, this time by a mere 0.03 of a second. Another Austrian, Jakob Dusek captured the bronze.

Out of the start gate, Grondin was in second place behind France’s Aidan Chollet and he held that position throughout much of the final before making a late pass to get into the lead. But Haemmerle was right there with him and as they got to the finish, the defending Olympic champion was able to shoot the front edge of his board across the line just ahead of Grondin.

En route to the big final, Grondin won each of his heats in the 1/8 finals, quarterfinals, and semifinals.

Grondin won silver in the event at Beijing 2022, which he followed with a bronze medal in mixed team snowboard cross, won alongside Meryeta O’Dine. Since then, Grondin has become a true star of the sport, winning back-to-back Crystal Globes as the overall FIS World Cup champion in 2023-24 and 2024-25 along with becoming world champion in 2025.

The mixed team event at Milano Cortina 2026 will take place on Sunday.