A roundup of gold medals from Wednesday, Feb. 9, at the Beijing Games:
___
ALPINE SKIING
WOMEN'S SLALOM
Petra Vlhova added an Olympic gold medal to her growing list of achievements, winning the women’s slalom at the Beijing Games.
It was Slovakia’s first Olympic medal in Alpine skiing. Mikaela Shiffrin again failed to finish the race.
Katharina Liensberger of Austria was 0.08 seconds slower than Vlhova over the two legs for second. Wendy Holdener of Switzerland was third, 0.12 behind Vlhova.
___
FREESTYLE SKIING
MEN'S BIG AIR
Norway’s Birk Ruud won gold in the Olympics’ first men’s freestyle skiing big air event, re-emerging as a leader in the extreme sport after losing his father to cancer and injuring his knee.
Ruud has two Winter X Games big air gold medals and four world cup wins, but only one since 2019.
Ruud’s final score of 187.75 was well clear of American silver medalist Colby Stevenson’s 183. Swedish veteran Henrik Harlaut took bronze at 181.
___
SNOWBOARD
WOMEN'S SNOWBOARDCROSS
Lindsey Jacobellis captured America’s first gold medal of the Olympics, riding hard to the line in her snowboardcross final a full 16 years after a mistake cost her the title.
The 36-year-old racer was in her fifth Olympics and captured the first U.S. win of what has been an otherwise dismal Games for the U.S.
France’s Chloe Trespeuch won silver and Canada’s Meryeta Odine won bronze.
