Finishing touch: 16 years later, Jacobellis gets her gold

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 showboating near the finish cost her the title. Jacobellis had been best known for taking a massive lead into the final jump at the 2006 Turin Games but pulling on her board as she rode over the crest and then falling and settling for silver. This time she rode hard to the end and won it. Jacobellis was competing in her fifth Olympics and captured the first gold of what has been an otherwise dismal Games for the Americans.