Eight years later, Jacobellis, now 18, is one of the so-called “Young Guns” of snowboarding. She is an early medal favorite in halfpipe and snowboard cross (SBX), a discipline that will make its first appearance at the 2006 Torino Game, and recently captured her second-consecutive SBX title at the 2004 Winter X Games.

“For this year’s SBX race, there was a really big hype for me for racing Karine Ruby (France) because she’s had a lot of World Cup gold medals and I’ve only had one,” explained Jacobellis. “We have never officially raced together. They were hyping her up and saying how good of a race it was going to be.”

Jacobellis lived up to the pre-race media blitz by smoking Ruby by 1.9 seconds in the SBX finals.

“I love the course, I followed down all the guys on the U.S. Team”, said Jacobellis of the Aspen, Colo., track. “[U.S. Team member] Shawn Palmer was saying ‘Lindsey chased me’ and I was catching them all. I felt great and fast. I just really love that course and everything was working for me that day.”

Jacobellis captured X Games gold in the women’s SBX in 2003 as well, winning by 0.03 seconds, the closest margin of victory in the history of the X Games.

“I didn’t think I won for a second when I crossed the finish line and I was really upset at myself but then once I looked up at the scoreboard and saw my name first I was so overwhelmed, I really didn’t know how to take it.”

In addition to her X Games hardware, Jacobellis has two World Juniors halfpipe titles (2002, 2003), the 2003 U.S. SBX championship and won the 2001 U.S. Open SBX. She takes all her accomplishments in stride, always aware there is a bigger prize at the end of the tunnel.

“All of these races I look at as training for the Olympics”, Jacobellis said. “My dream is to go to the Olympics for halfpipe and SBX.”

Jacobellis feels that the World Cup and Grand Prix circuits are the best way to prepare for snowboarding’s biggest stage.

“The World Cup has so many top riders that come from all around the world. They are just as good as you and want to win just as much as you so it’s a good battle to the finish. The same goes for the Grand Prix. Usually Ryan Neptune makes the courses for the Grand Prix circuit. I would say he built one of the most technical courses I’ve ever ridden. It’s really fast, but sometimes you have to adjust your speed. You constantly have to memorize the course and know which way you have to take it.”

Some in the snowboard world are cynical of Jacobellis’ chances of qualifying for the Olympics in both events. Jacobellis’ talent, dedication and love of the sport may prove all of her critics wrong come U.S. Trials time next year.

“My favorite event is SBX. It’s what I grew up doing with my brother. I’ve grown up chasing those guys down and trying to catch them and be as fast and tough as they have been. Halfpipe is great, I have so much fun doing that. But I like going really fast and hauling over those jumps in a tuck position.”

Lindsey is at the forefront of young, talented American snowboarders who are helping move the sport in a mainstream winter activity. A medal in Torino would only mean more notoriety for herself and the sport at large.

“The whole demographics of snowboarding is almost approaching that of skiing at this point, and there’s no end in sight of that,” commented Bud Keene, U.S. halfpipe coach. “I think that the circle is complete now. There are plenty of young kids on up through adults and people with children. Just on the U.S. Team alone there are kids as young as 13 on up through 29.”

The growth of events such as ESPN’s X Games and the addition of snowboarding to the Winter Olympics is a trend that bodes well for Jacobellis and her snowboard brethren as the masses continue to flock to their sport.