Scott Wescott at the Olympics
Photo by Getty images

BARDONECCHIA, Italy (Feb. 16) - U.S. Snowboarding's Seth Wescott (Carrabassett Valley, ME) won the first ever Olympic Snowboardcross gold medal Thursday as the event debuted in Bardonecchia.

Slovakia's Radoslav Zidek took the lead early in the finals, but Wescott dug in from behind near the end and held on. France's Paul-Henri Delerue took bronze.

Jason Smith (Basalt, CO) was sixth, Nate Holland (Squaw Valley, CA) was 14th and Graham Watanabe (Sun Valley, ID) finished 31st.