Krasnaya Polyana, Russia (SportsNetwork.com) - Swiss snowboarder Patrizia Kummer edged Japan's Tomoka Takeuchi in the finals of the women's parallel giant slalom Wednesday at the Sochi Olympics.
Kummer, who shares the World Cup points lead with Takeuchi, trailed her Japanese counterpart by .30 seconds after the first run, but made up the deficit early in the second run before Takeuchi took a spill midway through the race, allowing Kummer to cruise to gold for her first Olympic medal.
Takeuchi bettered her 13th-place finish from the 2010 Games by securing silver for her first Olympic medal.
Russia's Alena Zavarzina won bronze after edging Austria's Ina Meschik in the small final at Rosa Khutor Extreme Park. Zavarzina's husband Vic Wild won gold in the men's parallel giant slalom shortly after watching his wife bring home bronze.
Two returning medalists were bounced early in the competition, as Dutch Nicolien Sauerbreij, who won gold in Vancouver, and Russia's Ekaterina Ilyukhina, a silver medalist in 2010, both lost in the 1/8 final.
Three Canadians made it as far as the quarterfinals, but Caroline Calve, Marianne Leeson and Ariane Lavigne each fell short of the semis.
The United States did not qualify a rider for the event, which has been part of the Olympics since 2002.
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