Lindsey Jacobellis

With age comes perspective

You remember her story: In 2006, with the gold medal in snowboard cross just seconds away, she grabbed her board, slipped and ended up with silver. What you don't know is this: "I did not love the sport when I was that young," says Lindsey Jacobellis (second from right). "I was told that I was America's sweetheart, that you're going to win.... That's a lot of pressure to put on somebody."

Jacobellis, 32, loves the sport now. She finished her fourth Olympics in fourth place, 0.03 of a second behind bronze medalist Eva Samkova of the Czech Republic, but said afterward, "I mean, I could be upset about it, but where is that going to get me?"

Medals stay in one place; the love of a sport can be shared. Jacobellis spent the past few years training and also organizing an event called the Supergirl Snow Pro at Bear Mountain in California. Scheduled for March 17--18, it is a snowboard cross event just for women, the first of its kind. Says Jacobellis, "It's my new baby right now."