SBX Star Takes Silver
Jacobellis "styles" too hard, falls on a jump, and loses gold
By Aaron Broder, Scholastic Kids Press Corps
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"I was caught up in the moment," said Jacobellis who fell after trying to add a fancy flourish to her second-to-last jump. It was a flourish she didn't need to win.
Known as "Lucky Lindsey" by her family, Jacobellis was well in the lead when she decided to hotdog it. Switzerland's Tanja Frieden flew past her as she was picking herself up to finish her now silver medal run. Frieden took the gold in the new sport of SBX.
Snowboard Cross, a.k.a. Snowboard Extreme, is the first new sport in the Winter Olympics since 1998. A mix between snowboard slalom, a race, and snowboard half-pipe, snowboard cross has been described as "NASCAR on snow." Known for bumps, thrills, and wipeouts, this sport is a thrilling addition to the Winter Olympics.
After four quarterfinal and two semifinal runs, four lucky people lined up to start the deciding race: Jacobellis, Frieden, Maelle Ricker, and Dominique Maltais. Jacobellis was favored to win, having won the event twice at the World Cup. But it was not meant to be.
Jacobellis says she has no regrets, but she was visibly disappointed after the race.
"It seemed to me like she was showing off, thinking she had it won," said Rudy Kalis, sports anchor for WSMV, the NBC affiliate in Nashville, Tennessee. "That's a shame. The idea is to win and then celebrate."
