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Snowboarder Michela Moioli wins Italy's second Winter Olympics gold

The Local Italy
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Snowboarder Michela Moioli wins Italy's second Winter Olympics gold
Michela Moioli crosses the line in first place. Photo: Loic Venance/AFP

Italy's women's team continues to bring home the gold at the PyeongChang Winter Olympics, as Michela Moioli took first place in the snowboard cross.

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The 22-year-old from Bergamo came from behind to pass Lindsay Jacobellis, the American athlete who had led for much of the race, and held steady for the win.

Jacobellis finished fourth, with previous winner Eva Samkova of the Czech Republic in third and France's Julia Pereira in second. 

It's the first Olympic gold for Moioli and the second for Italy, following Arianna Fontana's victory in the 500m short-track speed skating. 

"Women are women: we have an extra gear. Seeing Arianna win gave me a boost and I said to myself: 'I don't want silver or bronze, I'm here for the gold,'" Moioli said


Photo: Martin Bureau/AFP

Victory was especially sweet for Moioli, who reached the final of the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi as a teenager, only to crash out with an injury that kept her out for competition for nearly a year. 

The men's Italian team have so far brought in one silver, for Federico Pellegrino in the cross-country ski sprint, and two bronzes, for Dominik Windisch in the men's biathlon 10 km sprint and Nicola Tumelero in the 10,000m speed skating. Federica Brignone won another bronze in the women's giant slalom. 

That leaves Italy ninth on the medal table overall – a marked improvement on the Sochi Games, when Italy didn't win a single gold medal and finished 22nd out of 26 countries. 


Photo: Martin Bureau/AFP

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