AP Photo/Lee Jin-man
The fifth time was the charm for American snowboarder Lindsey Jacobellis.
She captured her first Olympic gold medal on Tuesday night with a victory in the women’s snowboard cross final.
Jacobellis beat out France’s Chloe Trespeuch, Canada’s Meryeta Odine and Australia’s Belle Brockhoff in the big final. The 36-year-old’s win also gave the United States its first gold medal of the 2022 Olympics.
NBC Olympics @NBCOlympics
WHAT A MOMENT, <a href=”https://twitter.com/LindsJacobellis?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>@LindsJacobellis</a>!<br><br>GOLDEN GOAT. <a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/WinterOlympics?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>#WinterOlympics</a> <a href=”https://t.co/x9g5wWFjXe”>pic.twitter.com/x9g5wWFjXe</a>
Gracenote Olympic @GracenoteGold
Winter Games???? – <a href=”https://twitter.com/LindsJacobellis?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>@LindsJacobellis</a>???????? is the 2nd athlete representing United States to win a medal at the Olympic Winter Games at least 1️⃣6️⃣ years after claiming his/her first, after John Heaton who took silver???? in skeleton in 1928 and 1948. <a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/Beijing2022?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>#Beijing2022</a> <a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/Olympics?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>#Olympics</a>
Per Jay Busbee of Yahoo Sports, Jacobellis is the oldest American woman to win gold in Winter Olympics history.
Already one of the most decorated snowboarders in history, the only thing that was missing from Jacobellis’ resume was an Olympic gold. She has won the World Championships six times and 10 Winter X Games gold medals.
Jacobellis had an Olympic silver medal in this event from her first appearance at the Games back in 2006. That event is remembered for her attempting a method grab near the end of the race when a win seemed like it was wrapped up, but she fell and was passed by Tanja Frieden at the finish line.
Speaking to Olympics.com after her win on Tuesday, Jacobellis said she wasn’t thinking about redeeming herself from that moment in Turin 16 years ago.
“I didn’t have that in my mind coming here, I just wanted to have fun, being my fifth appearance at an Olympics. My thought going into this was, ‘it’s either going to happen or it’s not’, and ‘it could be my day or it could be another one of the ladies’ days’, so it just happened that all the stars lined up for me, for it to be my day.”
Jacobellis was on the U.S. Olympic team in 2010 and 2014, but she failed to reach the medal round either time. She reached the final four years ago in Pyeongchang but just missed the podium with a fourth-place finish.
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