Article #238096

The Upper Peninsula snowboarder races his fifth Olympic Games on Thursday, drawing on a career shaped by construction sites, small-town winters and the belief he could still reach the 2034 Games on home soil

At an age when most Olympic snowboarders have already drifted into coaching, broadcasting or nostalgia, Nick Baumgartner is still doing the hardest thing in his sport: showing up to the start gate believing he can win.

On Thursday at Livigno Snow Park, the 44-year-old American will race the men’s snowboard cross at his fifth Olympic Games – less a farewell tour than another extension of a career that has stubbornly ignored conventional timelines.