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And that's just one point of contention between the worlds of the Olympics and snowboarding. Within some of the sport's core circles, pot has been a common part of the life-style. Along with freedom, travel and the pursuit of that perfect powder day, marijuana is regarded by certain riders as traditional ritual. Scott McKinley, a snowboard rider and assistant manager of a Whistler snowboard shop, says of the culture, "I don't want to give the impression that everybody up here is a stoner. I compare it to cracking open a beer at a friend's [house]: it's so common, nobody thinks about it." In fact, many had joked that with snowboarding's induction into the Nagano Olympics, some riders would inevitably get busted for their hemp affections. In any case, most of Rebagliati's fellow Olympic snowboarders have come to his defense. "He still won the gold medal," says women's halfpipe finalist American Cara Beth Burnside. "Everyone's just furious about it. It's not affecting his performance. C'mon, they're kicking people out for cough medicine." "It's too bad," says American pro snowboarder Adam Merriman. "Pot doesn't make your muscles swell up--otherwise he'd have a reason to lose his gold. But marijuana just mellows you out. I don't understand why they busted him." Says Swiss halfpipe rider Anita Schwaller: "It's so ridiculous. It's not the riders who wanted to be in the Olympics; they wanted us." (Snowboarding is still banned in many elite ski resorts, including, during regular season, the course in Nagano.)
Even before the opening ceremonies commenced, many snowboarders feared the Games would alter their subculture. Norwegian Terje Haakonsen, widely recognized as the best snowboarder in the world, opted to sit out Nagano altogether. Haakonsen even described I.O.C. president Juan Antonio Samaranch as an "Al Capone" figure. Samaranch shrugged off the boycott and said, "All I know is this: those who don't enter don't win."
But controversy and failed pot tests aside, many snowboarders did come, and those who earned some hardware were happy to keep it. As gallons of freezing rain pelted spectators, riders and the media, the halfpipe (snowboarding's freestyle discipline) managed to go off without incident, as riders hurled themselves into the air before judges and the entire world. "Sticking" (landing) such "sick" (impressive) maneuvers as caballerials (backward 360[degree] rotations), McTwists (inverted 540[degree] spins) and Haakonsen's patented move, the Haakon flip (a 540[degree] with a flip), snowboarders showed everyone that rebels can be athletes.
With two preliminary runs and two finals, the halfpipe riders powered through the relentless downpour, pumping up the resilient crowd that lined the course in bleachers and stood thousands deep at the bottom. In the end, Swiss rider Gian Simmen managed to edge out Norwegian Daniel Franck in the day's last run for the gold medal. American Ross Powers hung on for bronze with huge airs and rapid rotations. Germany's Nicola Thost took the first women's halfpipe gold and Norway's Stine Brun Kjeldaas picked up the silver. American Shannon Dunn slipped slightly just before the end of her second run to fall back from the lead, but took bronze.