Quick Facts

Has one son, Landon
Released his memoir in April 2024, Gold from Iron, detailing his journey growing up in Iron River to winning gold in Beijing
Quick to point out to U.S. ski teammates that the U.S. ski team started where he is from, the UP (Upper Peninsula region of Michigan)

Biographical Information

Nick Baumgartner grew up in Iron River, Michigan, and considers himself a proud UP-er. Baumgartner was a three-sport star in high school excelling in football, wrestling, and the hurdles in track and field. He picked up snowboarding at age 15 and decided to drop out of Northern Michigan, after one semester to pursue a professional career in snowboarding.

When he started snowboard cross, he called it “the perfect mix of my two favorite sports--football and snowboarding.” Within two years, he was at the X Games and became an X Games snowboard cross champion in 2011. Baumgartner made his Olympic debut at the Winter Olympic Games Vancouver 2010. After two Winter Olympics where he did not advance past the first round, he made the finals at the Winter Olympic Games PyeongChang 2018 only to finish fourth and missed a medal.

Four years later, after missing a medal in an individual for the fourth straight Winter Olympic Games, Baumgartner gave a post-race interview on television showing as he puts it: "the emotion of what happens when you put that much work into something and you fall short of your goal." Baumgartner would come back two days later and win gold in mixed team snowboard cross event with Lindsey Jacobellis to become the oldest medalist in Olympic snowboarding history. Baumgartner has said of his success at a later age in his career, ““I've learned to outwork everyone, if I worked out as hard as I do now when I was in my prime, heck, I could have been unstoppable.”

In the off season, Nick enjoys spending time with son Landon in the UP. Before his Olympic gold at the Beijing Winter Games, Baumgartner balanced training with a full-time job pouring concrete.

Olympic Experience

4-time Olympian; 1-time Olympic medalist (1 gold)

Olympic Games Beijing 2022, gold (Snowboard Cross Team - Mixed), 10th (Snowboardcross - Men)
Olympic Games Pyeongchang 2018, 4th (Snowboardcross - Men)
Olympic Games Sochi 2014, 25th (Snowboardcross - Men)
Olympic Games Vancouver 2010, 20th (Snowboardcross - Men)

World Championships Experience

Most recent: 2025 – 5th (Snowboardcross - Men), 8th (Snowboard Cross Team - Mixed)
Years of participation: Snowboard Cross Team - Mixed 2023, 2025; Snowboardcross - Men 2009, 2013, 2015, 2017, 2019, 2023, 2025; Snowboard Cross Team - Men 2017
Medals: 3 (1 gold, 2 bronze)

Gold – 2017 (Snowboard Cross Team - Men)
Bronze – 2015 (Snowboardcross - Men); 2009 (Snowboardcross - Men)

Explore More Athletes