ZHANGJIAKOU, China – Lindsey Jacobellis is finallygolden, and so is Team USA.
Jacobellis, the most decorated athlete in her sport, won gold in women's snowboardcross at the Beijing Olympics. Chloe Trespeuch of France took silver and Canada’s Meryeta Odine came in third.
Until Wednesday, Jacobellis' Olympic legacy had been marred by an image of hubris.
In 2006, a then-20-year-old Jacobellis was cruising to gold in the snowboardcross when she grabbed her board on the final jump and fell. It cost her gold, and she settled for silver. Jacobellis never made it back to an Olympic podium, most recently finishing fourth in Pyeongchang.
Sixteen years later, at the age of 36, Jacobellis dominated all of her heats in Beijing and now has her gold medal. She is the oldest U.S. woman to win a medal of any color at the Winter Olympics, according to Olympic historian Bill Mallon. The medal is also Team USA's first gold of the Beijing Games.
“This feels incredible, because this level that all the women are riding at is a lot higher than it was 16 years ago. I felt like I was a winner, just that I made it into finals, just because that’s been a challenge all the time," Jacobellis said after the race. "Everything kind of just worked for me.”
Jacobellis is a 10-time Winter X Games champion and has five individual world championships. On the Olympic stage for likely the final time, she has finally reached the mountaintop — without an ounce of showboating in sight.
"It seems like you blink your eye and another four years (has) gone by. You’re like, ‘Oh gosh, I’m back here again,’” Jacobellis said. “Maybe I’ll blink again and (I will) be back at the next Olympics, but I want to say that I’m really excited with how things are happening right now so I’m going to try and live in this moment a little bit longer.”
At the bottom of the mountain, her teammate, Stacy Gaskill, 21, had tears in her eyes. The elusive victory for her hero meant that much to her. Gaskill finished seventh.
This is the seventh medal overall for the United States at the Beijing Olympics, and second by a snowboarder.
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