Lindsey Jacobellis wins women's snowboard cross; USA's 1st gold at Beijing Olympics

Feb. 9 (UPI) -- The fifth time was the charm for American snowboarder Lindsey Jacobellis.

In her fifth Winter Olympics on Wednesday, the 36-year-old Connecticut native won her first Olympic gold medal in the women's snowboard cross. The medal is Team USA's first of the Games in Beijing.

Jacobellis won the race after leading the pack of four snowboarders right from the start at Genting Snow Park P & X Stadium and didn't look back, leaving the rest to fight for silver.

When she crossed the finish line, Jacobellis was all smiles as after more than 16 years of chasing Olympic gold it was finally hers.

"It's been a long road for myself," she told NBC Sports after the race. "I was just trying to keep my flow. Because if I could get out ahead I knew I could stay ahead."

Though she's the most decorated athlete in her sport, Jacobellis had yet to win gold at the Olympics -- after famously letting it slip away at her first Olympics in Torino, Italy, in 2006.

Virtually assured of victory in the women's snowboard cross final in Torino, Jacobellis attempted a trick on the penultimate jump and crashed. Tanja Frieden of Switzerland passed her to capture the gold, and Jacobellis recovered to take the silver.

Jacobellis competed at each of the next three Winter Games -- in Vancouver, Sochi and Pyeongchang -- but failed to advance to the medal round in 2010 and 2014. In Pyeongchang, she led for most of the entire race -- but was passed down the stretch and finished just .003 seconds from the bronze medal.

"I was just trying to enjoy," she told NBC Sports. "This is my fifth Games , and [trying] not to put the kind of stress on myself that I always have. But that's just unrealistic because we all want to come here to win. ... It still is a little unreal to me."

Chloe Trespeuch of France won the silver in the women's snowboard cross on Wednesday and Meryeta Odine of Canada the bronze.