Russia's Vic Wild competes during the men's snowboard parallel giant slalom finals at the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympic Games in Rosa Khutor, Feb 19, 2014. [Photo/Agencies]

Neither Wild, 27, nor Zavarzina, 24, considered themselves the marrying types. But that was the quickest way for Wild to gain citizenship and a chance to compete for a country that puts more money than America into this more Europe-centric version of snowboarding.

So, they tied the knot in July 2011 in what Wild described as "a full-on Siberian wedding."

"It was crazy and probably more stressful than today," he said. "I was so scared. Walking into one building and thinking to myself, 'Dude, you're way too far away to run.' I had to walk through. Best decision I ever made."

The gold-medal payoff came on a sun-soaked afternoon on the mountain where hundreds of Russian fans chanted "Mo-Lo-Detz, Mo-Lo-Detz" - Russian for "Well Done" - every time Wild and Zavarzina came down the hill and won, which was a lot.

Parallel giant slalom starts with 16 riders bracketed based on qualifying times posted earlier in the day. From there, the head-to-head racing consists of two trips down the mountain, with the fastest rider over the two heats advancing to the next round.

The day could've ended with husband and wife both holding gold, but Zavarzina skidded out 12 gates from the bottom in the second heat of her semifinal against eventual gold medalst Patrizia Kummer of Switzerland.

A few minutes later, Wild won his semifinal race, meaning he was assured of either gold or silver.

Then, it was Zavarzina's turn again. She beat Austria's Ina Meschik in the third-place race to guarantee there would be an Olympic medal on both nightstands back at their 300-square-foot flat in Moscow.

Wild closed out the racing with a second-heat comeback in the final against Switzerland's Nevin Galmarini.

Then came the celebration. Husband and wife met for a long embrace at the bottom, followed by the requisite photo op - the two draping the Russian flag over their shoulders, flowers in one hand, snowboards in the other.

"This is what he worked for," Zavarzina said. "He's so far from his hometown. He did an amazing job. He had to switch countries, switch nationalities, accept some things some people would never accept."