It’s one of the most exciting sports at the Winter Olympics is the Snowboard Cross, and now for Australians it has been put on the map. 22 year old Jarryd Hughes claimed the silver medal in a dramatic final on Thursday, finishing behind Frenchman Pierre Vaultier.

Dual Olympian Hughes becomes the third Australian medalist at PyeongChang, and the 13th in the country’s history, joining Matt Graham (silver in Freestyle Ski Moguls) and Scotty James (bronze in the Snowboard Halfpipe).

Of the four Aussies competing in the Snowboard Cross, three made it through to the same Semi Finals after Adam Lambert was knocked out in his Quarter Final. Alex Pullin and Hughes stayed strong to finish first and second respectively, whilst Cameron Bolton injured his elbow in a fall to miss out on the final. Bolton showed courage and resilience to then compete in the Small Final, ultimately claiming 10th spot overall.

Jarryd Hughes was jostling for a medal from the outset of the Final, toe-to-toe with Pierre Vaultier. A fall to Pullin put him out of medal contention, the three-time Olympian finishing in sixth. Hughes held off Spaniard Regino Hernandez to finish 0.27 seconds behind Vaultier in the silver medal position.

 

What a day! @gettyimages

A post shared by Jarryd Hughes (@jarrydhughes) on

 

As he began his Olympic competition, Hughes initially struggled, requiring a second seeding run to secure a 25th position leading into the finals. The silver medalist then settled well and rode fourth fastest overall to top the Seeding Run Two.

 

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