(USA TODAY Sports)
For the third consecutive Olympics, American snowboardcross racer Lindsey Jacobellis crumbled, finishing seventh in the women’s event. Jacobellis’ Olympic career has been nothing short of disastrous.
Imagine if Tony Romo, Bill Buckner, Peyton Manning, and Jean Van De Velde collided in a terrible snowboarding accident. If that were to happen, the end result would look something like Jacobellis’ Olympic career over the past eight years.
In 2006, she had an overwhelming lead heading into the final two jumps of the course. She showboated off the first jump, wrecked, and took silver instead. Now, there’s nothing wrong with finishing second at the Olympics … unless you finish second due to your cockiness.
Jacobellis’ fall in 2006 (USA TODAY Sports)
In the 2010 Vancouver Games, Jacobellis didn’t reach the final. She hit a gate in the semifinal, earning her disqualification.
If you’re not familiar with Jacobellis’ resume, allow yourself this brief refresher. She is an eight-time Winter X Games gold medalist in snowboard cross. She’s a three-time FIS World Championships gold medalist.
There isn’t a competition the 28-year-old hasn’t dominated. Except the greatest one of all.
So she entered the Sochi Games again a favorite for gold. And this time, Jacobellis fell in her semifinal run. Like many favorites of these Sochi Games — Evgeni Plushenko, Shaun White, Shani Davis, Ted Ligety, Jeremy Abbott to name a few – Jacobellis couldn’t execute when the lights shone brightest.
Jacobellis’ fall on Sunday (USA TODAY Sports)
“One thing, it’s just a race. It was really hard to deal with that in 2006, when I was really young. And then in Vancouver, it wasn’t as bad because I was getting older, and it just didn’t work out,” Jacobellis said Sunday. “And like this, again, it just so happens that it wasn’t coming together for me again. It’s just a great big bummer.”
If Jacobellis decides to compete in the 2018 Winter Games in South Korea, she will be 32.
(USA TODAY Sports)
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