Sentimental favorite Chris Klug upped the American medal count by collecting the fifth U.S. medal in four snowboarding events at the 2002 Olympic Winter Games.

Klug, who underwent a liver transplant to stave off the effects of Primary Sclerosing Cholangitis (PSC) in July of 2000, turned in a gutsy performance to win the bronze medal in men's parallel giant slalom competition here today.

Philipp Schoch of Switzerland laid claim to the gold by beating silver medalist Richard Richardsson of Sweden in the day's final race.

"The halfpipers got us started," said Klug, referring to American teammate Kelly Clark's gold in the women's halfpipe and the Ross Powers-led sweep of the men's. "Seeing those guys do it made me feel like if they could do it, anyone could do it. I tried on Kelly's and Ross' medals and I said, 'Hey, I want one of those.'"

Much like with his liver transplant, Klug overcame seemingly insurmountable odds to reach the Olympic podium, squeaking past first-round opponent Jerome Sylvestre of Canada by a scant .05 seconds before making up a .75-second deficit when German Walter Feichter crashed in the second run of the quarterfinals.

Klug lost eventual champion Schoch in the semifinals before clinching his podium spot with a pair of victories over Nicolas Huet of France.

	PHOTO GALLERY
	Chris Klug's transplant scar

"You know, it's kind of like my liver transplant," Klug said. "I was facing that third month and I thought I wasn't going to make it. But I always felt like, 'Hey, it's not over yet. The window is still open.' It's just like when I was struggling earlier in the season and I just kept saying, 'Hey, the window is still open. You botched three qualifiers, but there are still two left. The window is still open.' Same thing today. I was down and just kept fighting. I didn't give up. That's kind of who I am."

Schoch told a similar tale in competition. The 15th seed had never been on the podium in any World Cup, World Championship or Olympic event, yet he shocked the field by upsetting No. 2 seed Alexander Maier of Austria in the opening round en route to the finals. Richardsson, the 1999 world champion, took a .24-second advantage in the first run of the finals, but couldn't' hold on after the course change and was disqualified when he crashed on his second run.

"My strongest point today was my very strong nerves," Schoch said. "The other competitors did not have (strong) nerves. I kept myself in control."

On the women's side, Isabelle Blanc made the leap from bridesmaid to bride by defeating five-time world champion teammate and defending Olympic gold medalist Karine Ruby for the gold medal and her own Olympic retribution.

Blanc, who fell from second to 22nd in her 1998 Olympic debut after crashing on the last gate of her second giant slalom run, charged through the field of 16 finalists, cruising to a 1.89-second advantage over her lauded teammate in the first run of the gold medal race. Ruby made a run to redeem herself after the two racers switched courses, but it wasn't enough to overcome the deficit and she settled for the silver medal.

Lidia Trettel of Italy, fourth in 1998, stepped up to the podium by defeating Jagna Marczulajtis of Poland in the bronze medal race. Lisa Kosglow, the only American woman to qualify for the finals, lost to Ruby in the quarterfinal round when she crashed on her second run attempting to overcome a .63-second first-run deficit.

— Scott Willoughby, MountainZone.com Correspondent