Pyeongchang (South Korea), Feb 24 (IANS): Nevin Galmarini of Switzerland pocketed the men's snowboard parallel giant slalom gold medal at PyeongChang Winter Olympic Games here on Saturday.

Galmarini, silver medallist four years ago in Sochi, improved his standing on the podium as he overcame home favourite Lee Sangho by 0.43 seconds in the big final, reports Xinhua news agency.

"I can't describe it. I'm also a little bit empty, I don't know. It's awesome," said Galmarini.

Galmarini followed in the footsteps of Philipp Schoch (Salt Lake City 2002 and Torino 2006) in winning this event for Switzerland at the Winter Olympic Games. No other National Olympic Committee has won this event twice at the Winter Games.

"The silver (at Sochi 2014) was already like gold. For me it was an incredible day back then in Sochi and today. I'm still trying to realize it," Galmarini added.

Switzerland claimed its first snowboard medal at PyeongChang 2018 and its 13th in total at the Winter Olympic Games.

Zan Kosir of Slovenia, winner in the small final by a margin of 1.49 seconds, took away the bronze.