Going for the Gold: Lindsey Jacobellis

The "Going for the Gold" series kicked off our One-Year-Countdown to the Vancouver 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games. We will feature a different 2010 U.S. Olympic or Paralympic hopeful each week with a vodcast on the first and second Friday of every month.

In the sport of snowboardcross (SBX), a downhill snowboarding race that incorporates turns and jumps, Lindsey Jacobellis is a force to be reckoned with. "Lucky Lindsey," as she has been nicknamed, was the 2009 SBX World Cup Champion, and has already earned victory at Cypress Mountain in Vancouver where the Olympic Winter Games will be held next year. She currently shares the title of most gold medals attained by a woman in the Winter X Games, where she has earned five in the SBX event.

When the Stratton Mountain, Vt., native was approximately 10 years old, a house fire destroyed all of her family's ski equipment. Since then the Jacobellises have been snowboarding. Lindsey's parents described her as having "a lot of energy, a lot of free spirit" and as being a "well-behaved, rambunctious child."

The curly blond-haired athlete claimed she learned everything she knows from her professional snowboarder brother, Ben. He taught Lindsey how to be resilient and how to keep up with the boys. She also attended the Stratton Mountain Snowboarding School, which allowed her to snowboard every day while still attending high school.

In addition to SBX, Jacobellis has competed in slopestyle and the half-pipe. At age 15, she participated in her first Winter X Games. At age 18 she partook in her first World Cup race and finished first in SBX. At 19 she collected a gold medal in SBX at the World Championships and finished eighth in the half-pipe.

At the debut of snowboardcross at the Torino 2006 Olympic Winter Games, Jacobellis took the silver medal. She was in perfect position, she did everything right, and she had a commanding lead. She could envision the gold medal around her neck as she stood atop the podium. But toward the end of her run, Jacobellis had a heartbreaking fall, and she settled for second.

She took the gold at the 2007 SBX World Championships once again and has continued to prove her dominance in the sport. In her next 23 FIS competitions, Jacobellis placed in the top three 18 times. 

She is currently at No. 2 in the FIS World Rankings, but Jacobellis does not intend to settle for second in Vancouver. If her recent successes are any indication, the 2010 Winter Games just might be the perfect place for some unfinished business--adding an Olympic gold to her ever-growing collection of medals.

CLICK HERE for Lindsey Jacobellis' bio.