Squamish's Rob Fagan won the men's Olympic snowboard cross small final to earn fifth place at Cypress Mountain on Monday (Feb. 15). Canmore Alta.'s Mike Robertson won the silver medal.
Fagan was leading the semi-final until making contact with German boarder David Speiser and briefly losing control and finishing in third place. But he was able to refocus and out-race Speiser and Austrians Lukas Gruener and Mario Fuchs in the small final.
"The small final is not where I want to be but you have to refocus and kill the small final," he said.
"Fifth is still pretty good," he continued with a smile. "It's the Olympics."
He said he felt right at home on the soft Cypress course.
"We ride up here quite often and in Whistler. You ride to the bottom of Whist any time of the year and it's pretty gooey like this. It's what we love, for sure, that's why I love living on the West Coast."
Fagan's family held up a large sign throughout the competition that read "Go Rob!"
"With the billboards and stuff like that, I know they're pumped."
