CT's Lindsey Jacobellis Wins Olympic Gold In Snowboard Cross

ROXBURY, CT — The fifth time was the charm for Connecticut native Lindsey Jacobellis.

In her record-tying fifth Winter Olympics, the Roxbury resident finally won the gold medal in women's snowboard cross that has eluded her for 16 years, after her debut at the 2006 Torino Games in Turin, Italy.

The 36-year-old's victory on Wednesday also was the first gold medal won by a U.S. Winter Olympian at the 2022 Beijing Games. Winning the silver medal in Wednesday's race was Chloe Trespeuch of France, and winning the bronze was Meryeta Odine of Canada.

Jacobellis's experience was on display from the beginning of Wednesday's race, as her riding was smooth yet aggressive from the start.

Click here to view the race on NBCSports.com.

"This feels incredible because this level that all the women are riding at is a lot higher than it was 16 years ago," Jacobellis told NBC Sports. "So I felt like I was a winner just that I made it into finals … everything just worked for me today."

It has been a long road to Olympic victory for Jacobellis, who is one of the most decorated snowboard cross racers in the world, having won numerous X Games titles and World Championships.

She won a silver medal at the Torino Games, but could have won the gold had she not crashed late in that race.

In both the 2010 Vancouver and 2014 Sochi Games, she crashed again, dashing her hopes for medals. She came in fourth by less than a second in the 2018 Pyeongchang Games.

But on Wednesday, Jacobellis was in stellar form, basically taking control of the race from the start, and never allowing her rivals to overtake her for the lead.