Lindsey Jacobellis extended her record for most X Games gold medals by a woman — Summer or Winter — with her ninth snowboard cross title on Friday.
Jacobellis prevailed in a final that included Olympic champion Eva Samkova of the Czech Republic, who crashed early in the race. Canada’s two-time Olympic medalist Dominique Maltais took second, followed by France’s Nelly Moenne-Loccoz.
Canada’s Kevin Hill won the men’s X Games title. Italy’s Omar Visintin took silver. Seven-time X Games champion and three-time Olympian Nate Holland won bronze.
Two-time Olympic champion Seth Wescott failed to advance out of qualifying.
Jacobellis is riding a new snowboard this year, debuting it when she won the World Championship for the fourth time last weekend, according to ESPN.
“Did not win the start,” Jacobellis said of the race (video here) Friday to ESPN. “Just had to go with what I had in front of me and try to stay out of traffic.”
Jacobellis is one of the greatest Olympic sports athletes of all time, yet she has not won an Olympic gold medal. In 19 career appearances in major championships snowboard cross competitions (Olympics, X Games, Worlds), she has won 13 gold medals.
Here’s a conversation with Jacobellis from before this season, where she reflected on missing an Olympic medal in Sochi and looked to her future in the sport.
Here’s her record:
20th — 2001 X Games
21st — 2002 X Games
Gold — 2003 X Games (and third in slopestyle and fourth in halfpipe)
Gold — 2004 X Games
Gold — 2005 Worlds
Gold — 2005 X Games
*** Skipped 2006 X Games
Silver — 2006 Olympics
Gold — 2007 Worlds
Silver — 2007 X Games
Gold — 2008 X Games
Gold — 2009 X Games
Gold — 2010 X Games
Fifth — 2010 Olympics
Gold — 2011 Worlds
Gold — 2011 X Games
*** Tore ACL/meniscus in 2012 X Games training run
Gold — 2014 X Games
Seventh — 2014 Olympics
Gold — 2015 Worlds
Gold — 2015 X Games
