Veteran snowboarder Lindsey Jacobellis won the United States its first gold medal of the Beijing Winter Games today—and finally made up for the most costly mistake of her sporting career. At the Turin Games of 2006, when snowboard cross made its Olympic debut, the young American was so far ahead on the final run that she decided to show off with a celebratory method grab on the second-to-last jump. She fell, and had to settle for silver. Today, aged 36 and appearing at her fifth and final Olympics, she took the lead and kept it, finally securing a gold medal ahead of France’s Chloe Trespeuch.
Read it at NBC News
