TORINO: Snowboardcross: Jacobellis gaffe hands gold to Frieden

TORINO: Snowboardcross: Jacobellis gaffe hands gold to Frieden{mosimage}BARDONECCHIA, Italy – If the 2006 Torino Winter Olympics have taught the world anything about the developing disciplines of snowboarding, it’s that style is supreme and pushing the limits of the sport is the only way to ride.

But in the first-ever women’s snowboardcross final, favorite Lindsey Jacobellis learned the hard way that image isn’t everything.

Coasting to what should have been an easy victory, the American went for a board grab on a method air just in front of the finish line. It looked good until she landed, caught her heelside edge and sat down hard. While she scrambled to her feet, Switzerland’s Tanja Frieden sped past and became the first champion in the sport of Olympic women’s snowboardcross.

“I was gonna try grabbing method or indy, whatever came first,” said Jacobellis. “My front hand came down first, so I tried to grab, but it just didn’t work.”

Jacobellis won silver, but should have had the gold. She was comfortably ahead of Frieden, and the other two women in the four-rider final had fallen long before.

Jacobellis insisted she wasn’t showing off, and her coach, Peter Foley, said she frequently grabs her board while in the air as the lower center of gravity and feel of the deck add stability.

“I was a little frustrated when I fell because I was trying really hard all day not to be thrown by that jump,” said Jacobellis. “Over the second to last jump, I tried a grab to stabilize myself in the air, and it didn’t work.”

It seemed clear that the method air was completely superfluous. Very few U.S. boarders over the two days of racing – which began with American Seth Wescott winning gold in the men’s race – were seen doing that. After biffing on the method air landing, Jacobellis joked, “As a freestyler, I bow my head in shame.”

Her flub left the American contingent standing in the bleachers stunned and shocked – Frieden, as well. She knew she had no business winning the gold.

Jacobellis had the best start of her day in the finals and jumped out to an early lead. She distanced herself from the pack as the other three riders got held up.

Canadian Maelle Ricker, the fastest woman in qualifying, came off a jump, rotated awkwardly, caught her backside edge on the landing and smacked her back and head onto the ground. She was taken off the course on a stretcher. She was conscious and was being taken to a hospital in Torino for observation.

A few moments later, teammate Dominique Maltais, the eventual bronze medalist, went careening into the netting after a jump.

That made it a two-woman show and it wasn’t even a contest. Jacobellis could have practically crawled the rest of the way to the finish line. She probably wishes she had.

During the awards ceremony, she stood on the podium beneath Frieden and smiled, but if you looked closely it was easy to trace the chaps of her tears.

Jacobellis came into the Olympics as one of the best-known Americans, a poster child for her sport, to say nothing of the credit card company she endorsed. Now it seems she’ll leave as a poster child for something much different – the whole idea of making sure the victory is sealed before you celebrate.

Still, Jacobellis found support in her snowboarding teammates. Men’s gold medalist Wescott said he understood exactly what was going on her head. He’s known for inserting style into his winning runs. And like Jacobellis, he has a background in halfpipe but failed to qualify for the Olympic squad.

“Sometimes it’s subconscious, but that was putting on a show,” Wescott said. “It’s one of those things. I did it in my early rides yesterday but you’ve got to choose your time and make sure you don’t miss.”

Jacobellis also isn’t the only American shredder to push their limits a little too far at the Torino Games. Kelly Clark, the 2002 halfpipe gold medalist, was stomping a horizon-expanding second finals run when she dropped a massive, but probably unnecessary frontside 900 on her last hit. She butt-checked the landing, knocking her not only out of the medals, but likely off the top of the podium.

Jacobellis’s gaffe is magnified by the fact that she was the only woman representing America in the sport and snoboardcross, not unlike NASCAR, is all about who crosses the line first no matter how ugly. The event features four riders starting at the same time and racing down a course that is full of jumps, turns, rollers and physical contact. Frequent crashes, along with the racing and freestyle elements, make for an interesting spectator sport.

“Anything can happen in snowboardcross, that’s just part of the game,” said Jacobellis, whose silver was the eighth total medal for U.S. skiers and snowboarders. Six have come from snowboarding, one from alpine skiing and one from freestyle.

Olympic snowboard events wrap up with parallel giant slalom races. The men run on Feb. 22 and the women race on the 23rd in Bardonecchia.

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The Associated Press contributed to this report.