Roxbury’s Jacobellis wins second gold
In a teary-eyed interview earlier in the week, 40-yearold snowboarder Nick Baumgartner seemingly admitted defeat at the Beijing Olympics, failing to qualify in the men’s snowboard cross event and concerned he’d never be able to capture a medal.
“I’m 40 years old, I’m running out of chances. I’ve got so much support back home and I feel like I let them down,” he said after the event, just before being asked what his future plans might be. “I ain’t stopping on this. I gotta do something better to end with.”
He didn’t stop competing, nor producing viral moments at the 2022 Olympics. Saturday in Beijing NBC cameras caught Baumgartner cheering on his mixed team snowboard cross partner Lindsey Jacobellis as she raced through the downhill course before letting out a “Yes!” scream as she crossed the finish line. He ran over to embrace her as the duo secured gold medals.
For the 36-year-old Roxbury native Jacobellis, it was her second gold medal of the week and Baumgartner’s first of his career. Jacobellis, of course, had 16 years between any medals, earning a silver in 2006 but only after missing out on a gold medal after attempting a trick and falling while trying to land. Jacobellis did not medal in the three Olympics in between. Despite plenty of success on the international competition circuit, the narrative of
her career was tied to the showboating move from 2006 and what could have been.
Until this past week. “It’s the internal fire in believing in yourself, whether you’re trying to go get a gold medal or just improving your day-to-day life,” Jacobellis said. “You continue to try to grow and better yourself.”
Baumgartner had a running joke about the pair, that they were both “40somethings,” to which Jacobellis would continue to correct him that “I’m 36.” Leading up to the race, although only for a few days, Jacobellis was the oldest snowboarder to medal at the Olympics. Now Baumgartner holds that distinction.
“You’re never too late to take what you want from life,” Baumgartner said. “You let yourself down if
you quit too early, doesn’t matter how old you are. Our success at our age is a perfect example of that.”
This marked the first year the mixed team snowboard cross event has been held at the Olympics, although it has been held in competition elsewhere for the last decade.
It’s a competition that features a male and female rider from the same country being paired up and placed into a multi-team bracket. When the male racer crosses the line, the time advantage he holds over the next competitor is applied to his female teammate. The female rider then begins the run and the top two teams advance round by round until the final.
Baumgartner gave Jacobellis a slight lead heading into her finals run and she clinched gold after outracing Michela Moioli, of
Italy.
“We’ve definitely been through a lot and we’ve seen each other’s ups and downs and our struggles,” Jacobellis said. “So to be able to come together and work as a team, and learn from each other on how the courses were changing with speed, I thought we did great.”
Back home, the win was celebrated, with Gov. Ned Lamont among those sending congratulatory tweets.
“Connecticut is punching above its weight in the #WinterOlympics. That’s (two) gold medals for Roxbury native @LindsJacobellis! We’re proud of you, Lindsey!” the tweet read.
Earlier in the week, following the first gold medal, former Roxbury First Selectman Barbara Henry, whose daughter narrowly missed qualifying for the Olympics in skeleton, said she was “extremely proud” of her daughter’s friend.
“It’s incredible. Fifth time’s the charm and she deserves it,” Barbara Henry said. “I know personally what these elite athletes go through to get where they are. I am so happy for Lindsey, she went to elementary school in Roxbury and will always be a Roxburyian.
It was the fifth overall gold medal for the United States in the 2022 Olympics, so far , and second for Jacobellis at these Games. The U.S. had 11 total medals as of Saturday afternoon in Beijing, including a silver from Westport snowboarder Julia Marino.