Krasnaya Polyana, Russia (SportsNetwork.com) - American-born snowboarder Vic Wild captured a gold medal for Olympic host Russia on Wednesday in the men's parallel giant slalom.
Wild trailed Nevin Galmarini of Switzerland by .54 seconds after the first run of their two-race final. He gained ground as Galmarini lost time in wide turns around the gates in the second run and won easily at the finish line.
Wild, 27, was born in White Salmon, Wash., and married Russian snowboarder Alena Zavarzina in 2011. He was granted Russian citizenship two years ago.
Galmarini settled for silver and Slovenia's Zan Kosir beat Germany's Patrick Bussler in the small final to win the bronze.
Earlier, two-time Olympic champion Philipp Schoch of Switzerland and 2010 gold medalist Jasey Jay Anderson of Canada -- competing in his fifth Olympics -- were both knocked out in the first round of finals.
So were top morning qualifier Andrey Sobolev of Russia and Austria's Benjamin Karl, the 2010 silver medalist.
The only American in the field, Justin Reiter, failed to make it past the qualification round.
Simon Schoch, who took silver behind his brother in 2006, made the quarters but was knocked out by Wild.
Zavarzina fell in the semifinals of the women's competition on Wednesday but won the small final to capture bronze.
Receive your weekly recap of all the happenings around the world of sports.