Two days after moguls racer Alex Bilodeau became the first Canadian to claim Olympic gold on home soil, snowboardcross racer Maelle Ricker became the first Canadian woman to achieve the feat after beating the competition on a course at Cypress Mountain, where the West Vancouver woman first learned to ride. It was Canada’s fifth medal of the 2010 Winter Games.
The Squamish-based snowboarder led from start to finish in a dominating win that came after surviving a crash in qualifying that was an eerie reminder of the Turin Games in 2006, when she fell in the final, was knocked unconscious and finished out of the medals.
Déborah Anthonioz of France earned silver and Switzerland's Olivia Nobs came in third.
