TORINO: Snowboard: Swiss brothers duke it out, go 1-2 in giant slalom

TORINO: Snowboard: Swiss brothers duke it out, go 1-2 in giant slalom{mosimage}BARDONECCHIA – Big brother was watching Wednesday when Philipp Schoch won Olympic gold for Switzerland in snowboarding’s parallel giant slalom.

The defending champion defeated older brother Simon over the two-run final to keep gold and silver in the family.

The brothers exchanged high-fives and hugged at the bottom of the slope.

”We talked about it at the top and said, ‘OK, we’ll give full power and go straight and the better will win,”’ Philipp Schoch said. ”Today, I’m better. Sorry brother.”

Simon Schoch, 27, has been the stronger racer this season, but slid wide on a gate in the first run against his 26-year-old brother, leaving him with a .88-second deficit he could not make up on the second and final run.

A strong, flag-waving Swiss contingent in the grandstand cheered the whole run, knowing their country couldn’t lose either way.

The brothers gave each other a long hug afterward, stood with their arms around each other’s shoulders and posed for a special family photo.

This was the first Olympic medal for Simon, who did not make the podium in 2002. Meanwhile, Philipp became the first two-time gold-medal winner in Olympic snowboarding, now in its third Winter Games.

”For sure it’s amazing, gold and silver in one family. It’s a dream come true,” Simon said. ”We wanted to do good races and he won. That’s it.”

Austrian Siegfried Grabner took bronze easily after Frenchman Mathieu Bozzetto fell in the first run of their head-to-head battle for the final spot on the podium.

The Swiss brought the top four snowboarders in the World Cup rankings to these Olympics – with Simon and Philipp Schoch ranked first and second. The Swiss were in contention for a medals sweep after qualifying.

But Heinz Inniger wiped out in the quarterfinals against Grabner and wound up fifth, while Gilles Jaquet was knocked out by Bozzetto in the same round and finished eighth.

U.S. snowboarder Tyler Jewell was knocked out of the Olympic parallel giant slalom by Slovenian Dejan Kosir in 1/8 finals and finished 11th overall. A first-time Olympian, Jewell won the first of two head-to-head races by .29 seconds over Kosir. After switching courses, Jewell came out of his gate .29 seconds ahead of Kosir, but crossed the finish line .30 seconds after him, allowing Kosir to advance to the quarterfinals by just .01 seconds.

Thursday’s women’s PGS is the final snowboard event of the Torino Olympics. Slated to ride for the U.S. is Rosey Fletcher and Michelle Gorgone. Fletcher has competed in all three Olympics in which snowboarding has been a part of (’98, ’02, ’06), while Gorgone is making her first appearance in the Olympics.

– Associated Press / USOC