'Forgiving and learning' the key to Lindsey Jacobellis' Beijing 2022 success

Lindsey Jacobellis slept soundly the night before she won the women’s individual snowboard cross (SBX) gold at Beijing 2022.

“I have people on my team tease me because they're like, ‘You always sleep well’, and I love sleeping,” she told Olympics.com.

“I feel like my spirit animal must be a bear because I sleep a lot and I love to make sure that I get as much recovery as possible, especially as I become older in the sport.”

Some may find that strange given the five-time world champion’s Olympic past. At Torino 2006, aged 19, she was out in front in the final and honing in on the Olympic title.

But on the second-to-last jump she attempted a celebratory grab, missed the landing, and was forced to settle for silver after being overtaken. The moment appeared to have left a mark on Jacobellis because, despite her success on the world circuit, the Connecticut native failed to medal at the next three Winter Olympics.

Jacobellis’ ability to sleep, and her subsequent calm demeanour on race day was the result of a lot of work, both mental and physical.

The crash in Turin had predictably haunted her for a long time.

But after processing what had happened with a mental coach, she was able to accept the result, and realise that it was only one part of her impressive story.

“I did get a lot of backlash and I got hate mail,” she revealed. “And it was hard to deal with as a young athlete.

“It was just one thing, it doesn't define you. It took me a while to believe that and to really just accept that and be OK with that. And it was part of, you know, forgiving myself and learning.

“I've been trying to work on understanding my emotions and my reactions because that was all the mental prep that I was doing over the last eight years.

“I definitely took a different tactic coming into this last Games because I wanted it to be fun and memorable and not this circus. I wanted it to be my experience and not how the media wanted it to be. And I think I just chose to take care of myself, and I think it was definitely worth it.”

Aged 36, Jacobellis was comfortably the oldest rider in her women's final.

The ultra-physical world of snowboard cross has taken its toll on her body down the years, but the pain of continuing made her victory taste all the sweeter.

_“_It definitely hit me hard in the exact moment that I crossed the line,” she said. “All those times that I maybe doubted myself or was in just a slump or wasn't feeling great because my body (fitness) comes in cycles and my knees could hurt some days or I'm not feeling as fast or as strong.

**“**There were times that I did think of giving up. But then I'd go out and have an amazing backcountry day or have just a day out surfing and break up the day-to-day that can really start to wear on you. That kind of helped keep me going.

“This was just dedication and love. This is just pure grit and just experience that played into my accomplishment.”

After her victory, Jacobellis was asked multiple times by the media if chasing the gold medal was about redemption, and if that is what kept her in the sport so long.

She was quick to banish both notions.

Her primary reason for continuing on was simply for the love of the sport and the lifestyle that went with it.

“To be going this long, it wasn't really the plan,” she said. “I just kept telling myself that I felt I'd know when it was time to not do this anymore. I'm still having fun and it's still exciting to be travelling and experiencing new places and cultures and I’ll just keep going until I think I'll know.

Days later, Jacobellis won her second Olympic gold medal in the mixed team event alongside a snowboarder four years older than her in Nick Baumgartner. So don’t discount Jacobellis from competing at the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics just yet.