Lindsey Jacobellis earned the United States a first gold medal of Beijing 2022 on Wednesday.

The 36-year-old sped to victory in the women's snowboard cross at Genting Snow Park in Zhangjiakou to finally win Olympic gold in her fifth Winter Games.

Jacobellis used all her skill and experience to power into an early lead and dominate the race from start to finish. Chloe Trespeuch of France took silver, with bronze going to Meryeta O'Dine of Canada. "This feels incredible because this level that all the women are riding at is a lot higher than it was 16 years ago," said Jacobellis.

"So I felt like I was a winner just that I made it into finals, because that's been a challenge every time. It just seemed like an unbelievable moment. It didn't seem real at the time."

Jacobellis is the most decorated snowboard cross athlete of all time, and is the only athlete in the discipline, male or female, to have competed in every Olympic Winter Games since the introduction of the event at Turin 2006.

She was within meters of winning the event in Turin when she attempted to grab her board in a premature celebration, only to fall and be overtaken on the line.

"They can keep talking about it all they want because it really shaped me into the individual that I am," said Jacobellis of her 2006 error. "It kept me hungry and really kept me fighting in this sport."

There was no mistake this time as Jacobellis gave the US a timely boost after another disappointing day on the Alpine ski hill for Mikaela Shiffrin, who slid out of the slalom event.

Snowboard cross is raced over a distance of 1,310 meters, with the course filled with turns, drops and jumps.

Like Jacobellis, O'Dine also saw her perseverance pay off. The Canadian was forced to withdraw from the Pyeongchang Games four years ago after suffering a concussion in a practice run.

"Racing these two Olympic medalists, they know where you are going to be coming for them and they are really hard to get past," said O'Dine. "I wasn't able to have that opportunity."

Defending Olympic champion Michela Moioli of Italy finished eighth.

China's Feng He ranked 30th overall, becoming the country's first female athlete to participate in the event.