PYEONGCHANG, South Korea — The idea of redemption has always made the snowboard cross star Lindsey Jacobellis weary, because, in her mind, she did nothing that needed to be redeemed. Yet after her infamous fall at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, where she spun gold into silver by falling near the finish line with a big lead, that is the way her Olympics career has been framed.
It was that way in Vancouver in 2010, and Sochi in 2014. Both times, Jacobellis, the most accomplished athlete in the sport’s history, stumbled in the semifinals, leaving without a medal.