A year ago, not many would have pegged Alex Deibold to be the top U.S. snowboard cross rider at the Sochi Olympics.
Not with Seth Wescott seeking a third straight gold medal, 2006 silver medalist Lindsey Jacobellis on the comeback and other veterans such as Nate Holland and Nick Baumgartner sizing up podium chances.
But it was Deibold, the 27-year-old wax technician from the 2010 Olympics, who won the only U.S. medal in the event in Sochi.
“I was a little bit of an underdog,” Deibold said on “SportsDash” on Tuesday. “I’ve got some teammates that have laurels that I can only look up to. It kind of helped me stay under the radar.”
One of the teammates helped him after winning that medal. He asked Wescott for advice on how to handle the onslaught of attention.
“Do anything and everything that’s put in front of you,” Deibold said Wescott told him, “because there’s plenty of time to sleep when the summer rolls around.”
Deibold’s taken that to heart.
He celebrated on Monday at famous Pepe’s Pizzeria in New Haven, Conn., his family’s pizza business. He’ll drop the puck at the Bruins-Panthers game Tuesday night.
