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Lindsey Jacobellis is bringing home the gold!
Jacobellis, 36, became the first American to win a gold medal at the2022 Beijing Winter OlympicsWednesday,ESPNreports. The snowboarder won the women’s snowboardcross event, claiming her second medal in the Olympics.
“This feels incredible because this level that all the women are riding at is a lot higher than it was 16 years ago,” Jacobellis said after her win, per ESPN.
“So I felt like a winner just that I made it into finals, because that’s been a challenge every time,” she continued. “All these ladies had the potential to win, and today it just worked out for me that my starts were good, my gliding was great and everything worked for me today.”
With her win Wednesday, Jacobellis makes history as the oldest snowboarder to win a medal at the Olympics, per ESPN. The athlete is also now the oldest American woman to earn a gold medal at the Winter Olympics.
Jacobellis beat out France’s Chloe Trespeuch, who earned silver, and Canada’s Meryta Odine, who earned bronze, per Yahoo Sports.
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Her win comes over a decade after she nearly claimed gold at her first Olympics in Torino. At the time, Jacobellis had a substantial lead over Switzerland’s Tanja Frieden, but wiped out after trying a trick near the end of the course.
The move cost her first place and she instead went home with a silver medal. The snowboarder said the infamous moment was “not in my mind,” while competing in Beijing, per ESPN.
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“I wanted to just come here and compete,” Jacobellis said. “[Winning] would have been a nice, sweet thing, but I think if I had tried to spend time on the thought of redemption, then it’s taking away focus on the task at hand, and that’s not why I race.”
To learn more about Team USA, visitTeamUSA.org. Watch the Winter Olympics, now, and the Paralympics, beginning March 4, on NBC.
source: people.com
