Bethel native Nathan Pare made his Olympic debut in men’s snowboard cross Thursday morning and was in a strong position to win a medal.
His day ended with a controversial run in the quarterfinal round that resulted in his disqualification.
It appeared Pare, 20, had come from behind to win his quarterfinal and secure a spot in the semifinals, but race officials disqualified him for making contact with Spain’s Lucas Eguibar during the run.
The top two finishers in each of the quarterfinals advanced to the semifinals.
Pare started at the back of the four-man group but slowly started to move up. At one point, it appeared he nearly lost an edge and then possibly made contact with Eguibar while coming out of a turn.
Pare, who was raised in Farmingdale but moved to Bethel to attend Gould Academy, caught the frontrunners toward the end of the run. Officials delayed posting the results as they reviewed footage from the race before announcing Pare would not advance to the semifinals.
Pare finished his first run, which determined seeding for the first of four knockout rounds, in 1 minute, 09.07 seconds, good for 13th overall. He then placed second in the 1/8 finals to advance to the quarterfinals.
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