Switzerland's reigning champion Philipp Schoch beat his older brother Simon into second place to retain his Olympic snowboarding parallel giant slalom title at Bardonecchia.

As expected the Schoch brothers dominated the event with Simon's small mistake half-way down the first run of the final assuring Phillip of a second gold medal.

The winner said: "We train together and do everything together. This is the greatest day of my life and I am just really happy."

Simon finished only 25th in Salt Lake City four years ago but improved to the extent that he came into the Olympics as the World Cup leader.

Austrian Siegfried Grabner won bronze after experienced Frenchman Mathieu Bozzetto made a mistake on the first part of his first run and fell requiring medical attention.