Snowboard-Australian Baff sprints to first gold in women's cross

LIVIGNO, Italy, Feb 13 : Australia's Josie Baff secured her first Olympic medal with gold in women's snowboard cross on Friday after beating two former champions at the Milano Cortina Games in the Italian Alps.

After fighting through the qualifying rounds on the winding 1.1 km course, Baff sat in second place through much of the final race before surging into the lead by the midway point.

She finished 0.04 seconds ahead of former gold medallist Eva Adamczykova of the Czech Republic.

The bronze went to Michela Moioli of Italy, delighting the local crowd in the northern Italian town of Livigno.

The 23-year-old Baff claimed her prize on a sunny day in front of Australian fans who cheered and waved inflated kangaroos on the side of the mountain.

Her victory gave Australia their second medal of the Milano Cortina Games. The first was claimed by skier Cooper Woods, who took gold in the men's moguls on Thursday.

"Each round that I make it through, I get less and less nervous," Baff said. "Even though the pressure theoretically should be getting more and more, I trust myself more and more. 

"And I just knew, from no matter what position that I was in out of the start, that I could make a pass and that I had the skills," she added. "I just had to let it happen." 

Baff jumped up and down on the podium and waved to the crowd at the medal ceremony.

"To have my name called out and the national anthem played is truly, truly crazy," she said.

ADAMCZYKOVA COMPLETES MEDAL COLLECTION

Silver medallist Adamczykova, 32, added to her Olympic haul, having won gold at Sochi 2014 and bronze at Pyeongchang 2018.

"I always said that I want to complete the collection, so I think it was meant to be," said Adamczykova, who returned to snowboarding after having a