Canadian Snowboardcross, Maelle Ricker won the Olympic women’s snowboardcross on Tuesday, earning the host nation’s second gold medal of the Vancouver Games. Winning Olympic gold in front of a screaming Canadian crowd on the mountain 20 minutes from her childhood home for Maelle Ricker was “like a crazy dream.”

By the time the ladies snowboard cross competition was over yesterday, several women had burst through a mesh fence, two heavy favourites – including Canada’s Dominique Maltais – had crashed out of the finals, and one unfortunate Swiss rider limped off with a bloody lip.

Ricker came into the Olympic race leading the World Cup standings. She easily defeated Deborah Anthonioz of France in the final. Olivia Nobs of Switzerland won the bronze.

In the semifinal, Ricker and Lindsey Jacobellis of the United States were the favorites to advance. But as they jumped side by side, Jacobellis lost her balance and went outside a gate to be disqualified. The American won the consolation race to finish fifth.

Ms. Ricker’s winning run, which she led from start to finish, showed just how good Canadians are at hurtling themselves over jumps and banked curves at break-neck speed. She added a gold to a cluster of medals snagged on Cypress Mountain in recent days, including her snowboard cross teammate Mike Robertson of Canmore, and a gold and silver from moguls skiers Jenn Heil and Alex Bilodeau. In ski cross, a cousin of snowboard cross in which four racers battle down a course trying to be first to the bottom, Canada is a powerhouse.

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