USA snowboarding veteran Nick Baumgartner: “You’ve got to fight every single day”
Baumgartner, known as snowboarding's answer to Tom Brady, tells Olympics.com how he was moulded by manual labour and is bidding to make his son proud at Beijing 2022.
Snowboard
“It’s got a little more character than most,” United States snowboard veteran Nick Baumgartner says holding up his Olympic ring to the camera.
The sizeable silver piece, adorned with the iconic five intertwining circles, sits on his right-hand ring finger.
“It’s got concrete stuck in every nook and cranny,” the 40-year-old explains. “People say ‘Oh why would you do that. Why would do that?’ For me, it’s about looking down and looking at that and if I want to go work all day and then when I get off and I’m too tired to put a workout in I look at that right there, and I know somebody out there is working harder. So, it’s time to get in the gym.”
That stubborn grit that has lodged itself deep into the ring over the years is not unlike the athlete that wears it.
Baumgartner, in his ever-pursuit of an Olympic medal, will become America’s oldest ever male Olympic snowboarder at Beijing 2022, surpassing the legendary snowboarder Shaun White by five years.
“A lot of people, when I started this journey told me I couldn’t do it, thought it was crazy,” said the American who has commentators wondering if he’s got the Fountain of Youth on tap.
“But I didn’t let go of that dream and with some hard work and dedication, look what we’ve done.”
Nick Baumgartner: the pride of the Upper Peninsula
Born and bred in Iron River, a sleepy town of 3,000 in Michigan's Upper Peninsula, Baumgartner’s start is a far cry from those who call Colorado or California, the traditional hotbeds of American Winter Olympic talent, home.
The slopes he cut his teeth on, he explains, minnow in comparison to those he knows his competitors get to enjoy. A general lack of the typical resources meant sometimes, in order just to train, the snowboarder would take to his backyard to build his own tracks after some snowfall.
For the ‘Yooper’ – the moniker for those that call the Upper Peninsula home – that extra bit of hard work needed to tame the environment in pursuit of a goal makes the achievement all the sweeter.
“It’s such a small town, a lot of people think we’re lacking in opportunities. I’ve just proved that if you make your own opportunity and you go out there and you don’t give up, that anything’s possible.” - Nick Baumgartner
That determined mentality to do whatever it takes is also heavily embedded into Baumgartner’s approach to life and it’s something you won’t catch the three-time Olympian apologising for: “You only get one shot in life and I’m going to live it on my terms,” he said resolutely.
Achieving sporting success is no easy business. To help make ends meet each season the two-time X Games medallist works in construction during the summer months. It’s how concrete found its way onto his Olympic ring.
“Manual labour, for me, was the only way to fund this dream,” said Baumgartner. “Everyone knows that winter skiing and snowboarding are expensive sports. Without this ability to work all summer long making money, I wouldn’t be able to do this.”
Though there is a harshness to the Olympian’s reality but he doesn’t see it that way. The hands-on graft, which at times can be physically gruelling, keeps the snowboarder hungry and motivated.
“I think if you have to go out there and you’ve got to struggle and you’ve got to work for things, it means a lot more,” says Baumgartner.
“When kids are handed everything, they lose that grit and that passion and some of that dedication. But when you’ve got to fight every single day to be able to do what you love to do, that passion is going to show and you’re going to be stronger and better because of it.”
Nick Baumgartner: a father leading by example
When Baumgartner crossed the finish line at PyeongChang 2018 it was a bittersweet moment. The American ended the race in fourth, outside the medals and in the “no glory” zone.
Then aged 36, the snowboarder was already a veteran of the field. Four years on in the present day, he knows he cannot keep hiding from that all-pervasive question: ‘What is it all for?’
“My goal wasn’t to make the Olympics at 40. My goal was to get there and get some hardware,” said Baumgartner laying out very clearly his ambitions for Beijing 2022. “When I strap into that gate, we’re going for gold.”
The Michigan native’s resolve to make it onto the podium is understandable given how much he invests physically and mentally to prop his dreams up. He is also all too aware that his body will not tolerate the extreme demands of snowboard cross forever.
But even if Baumgartner were to come away from the Chinese capital a medallist, no prize can compare to what he calls his 'best accomplishment' – his 17-year-old son, Landon.
Instinctively smiling at the mention of his boy, the father-of-one reveals that his son is what his endeavours are now really for.
“It’s almost like I’ve found a way to parent without being a parent," the Team USA athlete said with a dad-sized grin.
"I’m more like a friend, like this cool guy to hang out with. His friends allow me to hang out with them, whereas he maybe wouldn’t, but they think I’m cool so I kind of trick the system.”
“I think the close relationship I have with my son – win or lose – he’s going to be proud. He’s seen me do some insane things. He’s seen me at my lowest. He’s seen me at my highest and it’s been good and bad, and he’s proud of me. I’m sure of it.
“When I go to Beijing, I definitely want to make him proud by standing on that box, but I’m his dad. He loves me, he’s my kid I love him – all is good, life is great.”
Should Baumgartner return home once again empty handed, he already knows from a parenting perspective that his trials and tribulations have not been in vain. He is proud of the example his sporting career has set for his son:
“It’s so cool to be able to share with him and to show him first-hand what it does if you dream big, and you just don’t give up.”
“I’m the guy that sneaks in and attacks”
Though Landon will not be able to watch his father compete in person in Beijing, the 40-year-old won’t have to look far to find company of a similar age. His son is just three days older than one of his teammates, “It’s quite crazy to think about,” said Baumgartner.
Unsurprisingly, much of the current attention that swirls around the snowboarder pivots on his age.
To outsiders, having nearly two decades on some of his rivals might appear like a disadvantage. After all, the snowboard cross is renowned for its brutal tight turns and big aerials. Baumgartner, however, is convinced his decades under the sun are his greatest advantage. Not only has experience improved his anticipation but it also precludes him from trophy-talk, and he loves the shroud of secrecy:
“Now that I'm older, I like it. I like being under the radar. I don't like people being, ‘He's the guy to beat, the guy to beat!’ I’m the guy that just sneaks in and attacks.
“I think being the older guy, people kind of tend to forget about you once in a while, and it could be a big mistake for them. They forget about me. That's when I'm going to bite.”
Just three months ahead of the Games in South Korea, Baumgartner suffered a serious fall in middle of qualification. He crushed two vertebrae, broke a rib and bruised his lungs. When asked if crashes, falls and tumbles take their toll, the spirited American insisted that once he is in the gates not even he is in control:
“My body gives me such an adrenaline rush when I get into that gate. You can break my leg and I might not even feel it when I enter the gate. I get so focused on what I’m doing, and everything takes over and the pain seems to go away until I get to the bottom. But once I get in that gate again, it’s just me.”
Nick Baumgartner: snowboarding's Tom Brady eyes Milano Cortina 2026
“As I keep going in this sport, everyone starts referring to Tom Brady,” said Baumgartner, not displeased with the association. “The way I look at it is if he can a play as demanding as football in the NFL with the best, I should be able to snowboard for a bit little longer.”
In other words, the American is not counting out a fifth Olympic appearance in Italy in four years’ time.
As ever, with elite athletes heading into their twilight years, it isn’t often the mind holding them back, but the body. And that is where it all begins and ends for the snowboarder:
“I’m going to listen to my body, but as long as I’m competitive, still travelling with the team, things are going well and I’m having fun, I’m going to continue to do this because my expiration date is coming soon.
“Like it or not, age comes for us all and I’m going to push mine off as long as I can. If that means I’m here in four more years, I’m here in four more years.”
Whenever that day may be Baumgartner his future plans are already set.
Off-road truck racing, one of the American’s favourite hobbies, is on the agenda to fuel the competitive fire that he believes will burn long after the snowboarding days end. In terms of a job, he hopes to join his brother’s construction company out in Aspen: “It’s not just about my dream I get to help other people with theirs.”
For now, however, Baumgartner’s focus is fixed solely on Beijing 2022 and showing off that hard-fought, home-grown, concrete-solid grit.