freestyle skiing

Sweden's Sandra Naeslund Wins Gold Medal in Women's Ski Cross

Team Sweden’s Sandra Naeslund claims her first Olympic gold medal on Thursday 

Danielle Parhizkaran-USA TODAY Sports

Sandra Naeslund captured a gold medal for Team Sweden in women’s ski cross on Thursday.

Naeslund competed in the big final against Canada’s Marielle Thompson (second), Germany’s Daniela Maier (third) and Switzerland’s Fanny Smith (fourth), to claim her first Olympic gold medal.

At the immediate completion of the final, Smith, who had finished with a bronze medal originally, was disqualified for contact after the video review, giving the third-place finish officially to Maier. 

Thompson’s second-place finish awarded her another Olympic medal– she earned gold at 2014 Sochi. Naeslund and Maier earned their first Olympic medals on Thursday at Genting Snow Park P & X Stadium.

In the women’s ski cross small final, Canada grabbed the top three spots of the non-medal event: Brittany Phelan, Courtney Hoffos and Hannah Schmidt, respectively. Australia’s Kennedy- Sim placed fourth in the event.

Freestyle skiing returns to action with the women's freeski halfpipe final on Friday, Feb. 18 at 8:30 p.m. ET.

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