Australia will field a double-pronged attack in the Olympic mixed snowboard cross team race after a second line-up was called off the reserves bench for the new event.
The top team of Belle Brockhoff and Cameron Bolton will be joined on Saturday by Josie Baff and Adam Lambert, who got the nod following the late withdrawal of a team from the Czech Republic.
Reigning mixed team world champion Jarryd Hughes was left out of both lineups after he failed to hit his straps in the men’s event following a troubled build-up to Beijing due to injury.
He and Brockhoff, both triple Olympians, won the world title together in Sweden in 2021.
The Australians have been drawn in the same quarter-final, alongside USA 1 and Switzerland with the top two teams advancing to the semi-finals.
Hughes, who won a silver medal in the men’s event four years ago in PyeongChang, was badly off the pace, qualifying through the seeding round in 28th spot.
He was then eliminated in the first final, later admitting he preferred racing on a bigger Olympic course, in terms of jumps.
Lambert qualified in 20th spot while Dickson was 15th but it’s believed the former was in better form in Beijing.
Fellow triple Olympian Bolton was the best of the Australian men, qualifying eighth fastest and then winning his 1/8 final before being over-run in the quarters. He won a World Cup bronze just last month.
The mixed team event is held at 1pm AEDT on Saturday.
