Lindsey Jacobellis

Jacobellis was born in Danbury, Connecticut and grew up in Danbury and southern Vermont, where her family had a weekend home. Her parents, Ben and Anita Jacobellis encouraged her and her older brother Ben to participate in many sports. She was competitive from a young age, constantly trying to keep up with Ben or her father on the slopes.{{cite news|url=https://heavy.com/sports/2018/02/lindsey-jacobellis-family-brother-parents-mom-dad/|title=Lindsey Jacobellis' Family: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know|last=Adams|first=Jonathan|date=February 15, 2018|work=Heavy|access-date=February 11, 2022}} As a young child, she was primarily a skier, but she switched to snowboarding after the family's home burned when she was 8, destroying all her gear. She explains the switch by saying, "We couldn't afford to buy all new ski equipment; we could only afford to buy snowboards." She attended Vermont's Stratton Mountain School, a college preparatory high school with a sports focus on training winter athletes, graduating in 2003. She was the only girl racing in snowboard cross and says that competing against boys influenced how she approached the sport.{{cite news|url=https://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/story/sports/2022/02/09/lindsey-jacobellis-uss-first-gold-medalist-beijing-winter-olympics-snowboardcross-has-vermont-ties/6721122001/|title=Lindsey Jacobellis, US's first gold medalist of the Beijing Olympics, has Vermont ties|last=Abrami|first=Alex|date=February 9, 2022|work=Burlington Free Press|access-date=February 11, 2022}}

Jacobellis has snowboarded competitively in snowboard cross, snowboard slopestyle, and snowboard halfpipe competitions.{{cite web |url=http://www.teamusa.org/Road-to-Sochi-2014/Features/2013/March/28/Where-Have-You-Gone-Lindsey-Jacobellis |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140222100730/http://www.teamusa.org/Road-to-Sochi-2014/Features/2013/March/28/Where-Have-You-Gone-Lindsey-Jacobellis |url-status=dead |archive-date=February 22, 2014 |title=Where Have You Gone, Lindsey Jacobellis? |date=March 28, 2013 |author=Aimee Berg |publisher=Team USA}}

At the 2003 Winter X Games, Jacobellis won bronze in slopestyle.

She made her Olympic debut at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, making her first Olympic final in the process. During the snowboard cross final, Jacobellis was approaching the end of the course with a 43-meter (140 ft), three-second lead over Tanja Frieden of Switzerland. On the second-to-last jump, Jacobellis attempted a celebratory method grab, landed on the edge of her snowboard, and fell.{{cite web|url=https://sports.yahoo.com/olympics/vancouver/snowboard/news?slug=jp-jacobellis021610|title=Olympics on Yahoo! Sports – News, Scores, Standings, Rumors, Fantasy Games|website=sports.yahoo.com|access-date=February 26, 2018}} Frieden passed her to win the gold; Jacobellis recovered and settled for silver. In televised interviews, Jacobellis initially said the grab was meant to maintain stability, but later said that "I was having fun. Snowboarding is fun, and I wanted to share my enthusiasm with the crowd".{{Cite news |url=http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/11403461/ns/sports-winter_olympics/ |title=Jacobellis loses shot at gold with stumble |last=Gaillard |first=Eric |date=February 17, 2006 |agency=Associated Press |access-date=December 29, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100220180456/http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/11403461/ns/sports-winter_olympics/ |archive-date=February 20, 2010 |url-status=dead |publisher=MSNBC}}{{cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/02/17/AR2006021701471.html |title=Jacobellis Biffs It |author=Sally Jenkins |newspaper=Washington Post |date=February 18, 2006}}

At the 2007 Winter X Games, Jacobellis lost the lead in a fall near the finish line in snowboard cross.

She dropped halfpipe from her competition schedule in 2008 due to increasing injuries. Jacobellis regained the gold medal in snowboard cross at Winter X Games XII in 2008.

Jacobellis failed to progress to the medal round of snowboard cross at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, as early in her semifinal race, she landed badly during a jump, and to avoid a collision with another rider, went through a gate, resulting in automatic disqualification; she then slid off the course. She ended up 5th in the standings.{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/17/sports/olympics/17snowboard.html |title=Redemption, but Not for Jacobellis |date=February 16, 2010 |work=New York Times |author=John Branch}}

In 2011, Jacobellis won her fourth straight gold in snowboard cross at the Winter X Games, adding to her gold medals in 2008, 2009, and 2010.{{cite news |url=https://www.espn.com/action/xgames/winter/2011/news/story?id=6072091 |title=Jacobellis four-peats in Snowboarder X |date=January 11, 2011 |author=Devon O'Neil |publisher=ESPN}}

Jacobellis failed to progress to the medal round of snowboard cross at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi. She was leading the semifinal race when she crashed. She finished in 7th place in the overall standings.{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/17/sports/olympics/jacobellis-again-comes-up-short-in-snowboard-cross.html?_r=0 |title=Lindsey Jacobellis Again Comes Up Short in Snowboard Cross |date=February 16, 2014 |work=New York Times |author=John Branch}}

At the 2015 World Championship, Jacobellis won gold in snowboard cross. She also won the [https://web.archive.org/web/20170305193412/http://www.fis-ski.com/sierranevada2017/ 2017 World Championship] and finished with a silver and two golds in the first World Cup races of the 2017–2018 season.

The New York Times reported that in the period between the 2014 and 2018 Olympics, in addition to her training, surfing, and other competition strategies, Jacobellis also began working with the mental skills coach Denise Shull.{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/14/sports/olympics/lindsey-jacobellis-olympics-snowboard.html|title=The Haunting of Lindsey Jacobellis|last=Branch|first=John|date=February 14, 2018|work=The New York Times}}

At the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, Jacobellis made her second Olympic snowboard cross final. After leading most of the way, she missed the podium by .003 seconds, finishing in 4th place.{{cite news |url=https://www.cbssports.com/olympics/news/snowboarder-lindsey-jacobellis-falls-short-again-at-winter-olympics-finishes-fourth/|title=Snowboarder Lindsey Jacobellis falls short again at Winter Olympics, finishes fourth|date=February 15, 2018 |work=CBS Sports |author= Nate Peterson}}

In her fifth Olympics, Jacobellis finally became the Olympic champion in snowboard cross at the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing. This was the first gold medal for the US in Beijing, ending a five-day gold medal drought. Various media outlets lauded her perseverance in winning after a sixteen-year chase for Olympic gold.{{cite web|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/usa-gold-medal-lindsey-jacobellis-11644399646|title=The U.S. Waited Six Days for a Gold Medal. Lindsey Jacobellis Waited 16 Years.|website=The Wall Street Journal|access-date=February 9, 2022}}{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/08/sports/olympics/lindsey-jacobellis-us-first-gold-snowboard.html|title=Long Known for a Blunder, Jacobellis Rewrites Her Story in Gold.|work=The New York Times |date=February 9, 2022 |access-date=February 9, 2022 |last1=Branch |first1=John }} Jacobellis followed up her individual gold by winning the debut of the mixed team snowboard cross with partner Nick Baumgartner.{{Cite news|last1=Branch|first1=John|last2=Tumin|first2=Remy|date=February 12, 2022|title=Lindsey Jacobellis and Nick Baumgartner win the debut of mixed team snowboard cross.|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/11/sports/olympics/lindsey-jacobellis-nick-baumgartner-snowboard-cross.html|access-date=February 12, 2022|issn=0362-4331}}{{Cite web|last=TODAY|first=USA|title=Winter Olympics live updates: Lindsey Jacobellis, Nick Baumgartner win gold; US faces Canada in men's hockey|url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/olympics/beijing/2022/02/11/winter-olympics-2022-saturday-live-updates/6753136001/|access-date=February 12, 2022|website=USA TODAY|language=en-US}}

Jacobellis appeared on a charity edition of MTVs The Challenge, titled The Challenge: Champs vs. Pros. She competed to raise money for the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. She finished as the runner-up with her teammate in the final challenge, Kamerion Wimbley.{{cite web|url=http://www.espn.com/espnw/culture/the-buzz/article/19201860/champs-vs-pros-hosted-victor-cruz |title=Preview of MTV series The Challenge: Champs vs. Pros |publisher=ESPN |date=April 24, 2017 |first1=Katie|last1=Barnes|access-date=July 24, 2017}}{{cite web|last1=Donnelly|first1=Matthew Scott|title=Who Was The Challenge: Champs vs. Pros' MVP?|url=http://www.mtv.com/news/3020608/challenge-champs-vs-pros-mvp/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170623083258/http://www.mtv.com/news/3020608/challenge-champs-vs-pros-mvp/|url-status=dead|archive-date=June 23, 2017|publisher=MTV|access-date=July 24, 2017|date=June 20, 2017}}

In addition to her athletic skill, she is known for her naturally curly hair and is sponsored by hair care brand Paul Mitchell.{{cite web |website=Naturally Curly |title=What Olympic Snowboarder Lindsey Jacobellis Uses on Her Curly Hair |date=February 15, 2018 |url=https://www.naturallycurly.com/curlreading/curly/what-olympic-snowboarder-lindsey-jacobellis-uses-in-her-curly-hair}}

• ANOC Gala Awards 2022：Best Mixed Team Event Performance of Beijing 2022{{Cite web|title=The ANOC Awards 2022|url=https://www.anocolympic.org/anoc-awards/the-anoc-awards-2022/|access-date=October 19, 2022|website=ANOC}}

{{reflist}}

• {{Official website|https://www.lindseyjacobellis.com}}
• {{FIS snowboarder}}
• {{X Games profile|old_id=3014067}}
• {{Team USA|new_id=lindsey-jacobellis-816940|old_id=JA/Lindsey-Jacobellis|archive=20230318113159}}
• {{Olympics.com profile}}
• {{Olympedia}}
• [https://www.nbcolympics.com/athletes/lindsey-jacobellis-476735 Lindsey Jacobellis] at NBC Olympics
• {{IMDb name}}

{{Footer Olympic Champions in Snowboarding Women}}

{{Footer Olympic Champions in Mixed team snowboard cross}}

{{Footer World Champions SB Snowboard Cross Women}}

{{Footer World Champions SB Team Snowboard Cross Women}}

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Jacobellis, Lindsey}}

Category:1985 births

Category:Living people

Category:American female snowboarders

Category:Snowboarders at the 2006 Winter Olympics

Category:Snowboarders at the 2010 Winter Olympics

Category:Snowboarders at the 2014 Winter Olympics

Category:Snowboarders at the 2018 Winter Olympics

Category:Snowboarders at the 2022 Winter Olympics

Category:X Games competitors

Category:People from Windham County, Vermont

Category:Sportspeople from Danbury, Connecticut

Category:Olympic gold medalists for the United States in snowboarding

Category:Olympic silver medalists for the United States in snowboarding

Category:Medalists at the 2006 Winter Olympics

Category:Medalists at the 2022 Winter Olympics

Category:Sportspeople from Vermont

Category:Participants in American reality television series

Category:21st-century American sportswomen