ROXBURY, Conn. (WCBS 880) — Connecticut native Lindsey Jacobellis on Wednesday took home Team USA's first gold medal of the Beijing Olympics.
The 36-year-old from Roxbury nearly two decades of frustration at the Olympics, finally making it to the top spot on the podium with a dazzling performance in snowboard cross — which is a four-way, head-to-head race on a twisting course at breakneck speed.
In her hometown, a banner outside Roxbury Town Hall boasts the message "Go Lindsey go!" and proudly claims Jacobellis as one of their own.
Roxbury has been home to some famous people, including composer Stephen Sondheim and playwrite Arthur Miller, Frank Mccourt, and former Town Selectman Barbara Henry is now beaming with pride for their new Olympic champion.
Henry, who remembers Jacobellis starring as "The Little Mermaid" in a talent show as a child, describes the snowboarder as a fierce competitor with a heart of gold.
"To, you know, stay as nice as she is, she's not pompous, she's not arrogant," Henry said. "She's very outgoing, very personable, she's got a lot of friends, still friends from when she was just a child in Roxbury."
"Just very proud to call her one of our own, not just because of what she's accomplished here, but because of the beautiful person that she is inside and out," Henry added.
Up until Wednesday, Jacobellis was best known for taking a massive lead into the final jump at the 2006 Turin Games, but tweaking her board as she road over the crest, then falling and settling for silver.
This time, she rode hard all the way to the line, beating France's Chloe Trespeuch, then covering her heart with her hands as she slowed. Canada's Meryeta Odine won the bronze.
Jacobellis was competing in her fifth Olympics and captured the first gold of what has been an otherwise dismal Games for the Americans.
The victory came after America's top racer, skier Mikaela Shiffrin, skidded out and failed to finish the first run of the slalom, making her 0-for-2 in Beijing.
On Sunday, Connecticut's Julia Marino was the first Team USA member to earn a medal at the 2022 Beijing Olympics, winning silver in women's snowboard slopestyle.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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