WEST VANCOUVER, British Columbia  Seth Wescott did not seem overly worried when he found himself in the fourth and final spot partway down the winding snowboard cross course.

After all, he was confident enough in his chances to win a second straight gold medal in the event that he packed the American military service flag from the funeral of his grandfather Ben Wescott, a World War II veteran. It was the same flag that Wescott wrapped himself in four years ago in Turin, Italy, after his father came out of the stands and fought through security to give it to him.

On Monday, Wescott brought the flag himself. He handed it to Lindsey Sine of the United States Ski and Snowboard Association, who was at the bottom of the course.

“I said, ‘I’m going to need this at the finish line,’ ” Wescott said.

And he did, winning another gold medal in similar fashion as four years earlier, with a close race to the end and a victory wrap inside a flag.