A new record has been set just days into the 2026 Milan Cortina Winter Olympics, which began Feb. 5 in Italy.
Austrian snowboarder Benjamin Karl at 40 years old became the oldest individual gold medalist in Winter Olympics history on Sunday. Karl placed first in the parallel giant slalom, beating South Korea’s Kim Sangkyum by 0.19 seconds to win his second consecutive gold medal in the event.
After his gold medal win, Karl celebrated by stripping off his shirt and flexing before diving into a pile of snow. He said the celebration was a planned tribute to alpine skiing legend Herman “The Herminator” Maier, according to AP.
“He was one of the greatest skiers of all time in Austria and he once did this,” Karl said. “I always wanted to do the same. I lost the chance in Beijing because I was so overwhelmed from emotions, and today I took the chance. I needed to wait 25 years to make this pose like Hermann Maier. Now I did it and this is the crown of my career.”
Maier won two gold medals, one silver and one bronze while representing Austria at the Winter Olympics in 1998 and 2006, according to his Olympics bio.
Karl, meanwhile, is competing in his fifth Olympics. In addition to his two gold medals in the parallel giant slalom, he also won the bronze medal in 2014 at Sochi and silver medal in 2010 at Vancouver.