It was a tense night for San Diegans watching day 5 of competition at the 2022 Beijing Olympics, where several snowboarders with San Diego ties took their turn on the mountain -- and one clinched gold!
Here's what you missed:
Lindsey Jacobellis Takes Gold
Fifth time's the charm for this Olympic athlete who used to train in Encinitas, California.
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Her speed down the snowboarding cross slope garnered Team USA its first medal of the 2022 Winter Games -- and her first gold (she has two silvers under her belt).
In doing so at age 36, she became the oldest American woman to win a medal at the Winter Games.
Shaun White Advances to Final After Crashing on 1st Run
Local
We'll tell ourselves the Carlsbad snowboarder just wanted to keep us on our toes when he fell in his first run of the men's halfpipe qualifiers to put him in 16th.
But on his second run, a score of 86.25 bumped him into fourth and high enough to qualify for the halfpipe finals on Thursday night.
“I can't tell you the relief I felt off that last hit. It was just the thrill and excitement to be going to finals," White said following his race. "I was thinking a lot about that, like, how if the next run went terribly, I'd be standing here, talking to everyone over and over about how I’m still happy to be here, but it sucks. I'm so thankful I'm not living that right now."
Watch what will likely be White's last Olympic run (He's said the 2022 Winter Olympics will be his last) at 8:30 p.m. Thursday on NBC 7 or livestream here.
Tessa Maud and Seamus O'Connor Out
Unfortunately, two of our locals won't be advancing to the finals.
Ramona native Seamus O'Connor was competing for Ireland (He's actually one their biggest names) but we were still rooting for this hometown guy.
His first run was solid, landing him a score of 57 but after falling on his second run, it was not enough to get him into the top 12 to advance to the finals.
Carlsbad teenager Tessa Maud made her Olympic debut with a first-run score of 53.50, which put her in 15th place after the first round. She'll had one more shot to bump up her score but could not get into the top 12 in order to advance to the finals.
At 18 years old, Maud is one of the youngest athletes representing Team USA this year. We have a feeling she'll be back.
Team USA's only shot at a medal in women's halfpipe is Los Angeles native Chloe Kim, the current halfpipe gold medal holder. With a score of 87.75, she ranked 1st in the qualifying round.
The women's snowboarding halfpipe finals will get underway at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday on NBC 7.
NBC 7's Steven Luke is in Beijing, China to bring us the latest updates from the 2022 Winter Olympics. Click here to follow his journey, day-by-day
