Watch: US Olympian's 1st-Place Finish Overturned After Judges Review the Tape
It wouldn’t be a Winter Olympics without some judging controversy.
And while this current scandal isn’t quite on the level of, say, what Marie-Reine Le Gougne did in the 2002 Winter Olympics, this latest controversy is still “insane,” at least according to the U.S. Olympian involved with it.
On Thursday, U.S. snowboarder Nathan Pare appeared to have won first place at the snowboard cross quarterfinal after a furious comeback, according to the New York Post.
That thrill of victory would turn out to be fleeting.
Pare was disqualified after the judges reviewed footage following the race and determined that the 21-year-old American had intentionally knocked over Spanish snowboarder Lucas Eguibar.
(There are three levels of this sort of illegal contact, with “intentional” being the worst, followed by “involuntary” and then “incidental.”)
The “intentional” contact is punishable by a disqualification — which is exactly what happened to Pare — if it’s determined to have had a tangible impact on the competition.
You can view what happened in that race below (Pare is in yellow and black):
Chaos in men’s snowboard cross as Team USA’s Nathan Pare was disqualified for making contact with his opponent after a FURIOUS comeback. pic.twitter.com/WjEpt37Aad
— NBC Olympics & Paralympics (@NBCOlympics) February 12, 2026
Pare had been struggling in last place in the race with Eguibar, and French competitors Jonas Chollet and Loan Bozzolo.
He was able to stage a late comeback to seemingly take first place — but only after a collision with Eguibar that wiped the Spaniard out of the race.
Despite the high-speed and bang-bang nature of those sorts of collisions, the judges ultimately decided that Pare had intentionally clipped Eguibar.
“That’s insane,” Pare could be heard telling the judges, per Sports Illustrated.
And the Peacock announcers seemed to agree.
“He stumbles a little bit, and he doesn’t see him back there,” the announcer said on the live stream.
The announcer eventually concluded, “That did not look like it was on purpose.”
For Pare, this is an ending for a lifelong dream.
“I’ve dreamed about this for as long as I can remember,” he said in January. “As a kid, I’ve pictured this moment becoming reality but without knowing how to get there. With the huge amount of support from my parents, coaches and teammates over the years the dream is becoming a reality.
“After years of sacrifices, set backs, doubt and putting in the work when no one was watching, I am honored and proud to represent my country at the Olympics.”
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