Maelle Ricker picked up Canada's second gold medal of a profitable home Winter Olympics to date as she stormed to victory in the snowboard cross.The Vancouver resident arrived at Cypress Mountain as the World Cup leader and continued her dominance in the four-female final.
A blistering start put Ricker in the box seat straight from the gate, with France's Deborah Anthonioz taking the silver after an error-free run and Swiss rider Olivia Nobs claiming bronze.
According to the BBC, Ricker said: "I tried to explode out of the gate. I really wanted to get out of that gate as fast as I could.
"It was really, really hard to get a clean run all the way down the course, but I just held on and did my best. I was really just focusing on doing the run."
Britain's hopes of a first medal in Vancouver ended when Zoe Gillings could only finish third in her semi-final.
This qualified her for the small final but a left-knee problem meant she only made it to the first jump before pulling out and settling for eighth overall.
Ricker had previously claimed a bronze medal at Whistler in the 2005 World Championships.
Written by Chris Smith