Snowboardcross rider Jacobellis earns USA 1st gold in China
By EDDIE PELLS and PAT GRAHAM
AP Sports Writers
ZHANGJIAKOU, China (AP) — Lindsey Jacobellis captured the United States’ first gold medal of the Beijing Olympics. The 36-year-old rode hard to the line in her snowboardcross final a full 16 years after a mistake cost her the title. Jacobellis was competing in her fifth Olympics and captured the first gold of what has been an otherwise dismal Games for the Americans. Up until Wednesday, Jacobellis was best known for taking a massive lead into the final jump at the 2006 Turin Games but tweaking her board as she road over the crest, then falling and settling for silver.