Seth Wescott made snowboarding history today by becoming the first to win back-to-back gold medals in any discipline. The racing was exciting from start to finish, but these are what I consider the five most significant subplots to the action.

1.Second place isn't in the spotlight, but it is in the hunt: Seth Wescott has been lurking in the shadows ever since winning a gold medal at the 2006 Winter Olympics. For the past four years he's been a perennial runner-up in World Cup and X Games competitions. People forget the runner-up and winners get the headlines. But when somebody is finishing on the podium as consistently as Wescott, you can never count them out. He raced very smart Monday. He stayed within himself and let the others make mistakes. He wasn't trying to win the race during the first few features. He played it cool and waited for the perfect moment to take over the lead. That's his experience paying off, and that's why he's now the first snowboarder to win back-to-back gold medals.

2.Conditions aren't ideal, but they are the same for everyone: The conditions at Cypress Mountain are as challenging as everybody expected. But that's never an excuse for losing, since everyone is dealing with the same issues. But the soft conditions made life very difficult for guys in the turns. In good conditions turns are an opportune time to pass, but that clearly wasn't the case Monday. Just surviving the turns was the secret. Most of the heavy favorites who went down early ran into trouble by being too aggressive in the turns. Most of the successful passes came in the flats and over the jumps. That's something Lindsey Jacobellis should consider as she prepares for her races Tuesday.

3. The harder they fall: France's Pierre Vaultier was the most talented snowboardcross rider coming into the Vancouver Games. He has dominated the World Cup circuit this year, which includes many of the riders competing in the Olympics. But in the quarterfinals Monday he made an error trying to pass in the turn and got tangled up with his teammate, Tony Ramoin. After that he was stuck in traffic with very little momentum and his race was done. Nate Holland made a similar error by putting it all on the line in the turns during the final. The five-time X Games winner will have to wait four years to get his shot at Olympic gold.

4.What didn't surprise me: Nate Holland and Pierre Vaultier were the biggest names coming into this event. Call their losses shocking if you want, but they're not surprising. That's the beauty of snowboardcross. It's a heart-pounding sport where anything can happen. Upsets are a way of life. The smallest mistake can cost you, but at the same time, as Wescott showed us in the final, a rider can begin the top section in last place and finish first. I love it.

5. What did surprise me: Frankly, I was blown away with the level of racing Monday. Four years ago there was a pretty significant gap between the top riders and everyone else. Monday, all 32 riders who qualified impressed me. There were very few runaway wins, and I saw a lot of guys step their games up to new levels. Italy's Stefano Pozzolini and Tony Ramoin of France are perfect examples. Their performances are a clear sign of how levels are rising in snowboardcross everywhere. I think this is a direct result of this sport being embraced around the world.