The 21-year-old snowboarder from the Czech Republic put on an impressive performance as she dominated her rivals in the snowboard cross event at the Sochi Olympics. The mustachioed Eva Samkova bested 33-year-old Canadian Dominique Maltais who got the silver medal, and 19-year-old Chloe Trespeuch from France.

The camera attached to Samkova’s helmet was meant to give TV viewers a better image of the exciting sport, but all it managed to capture was a smooth course and the sound of a cheering crowd. She dominated in all of her races and proceeded to claim her first Olympic gold medal.

Wearing her trademark mustache, which she paints on her upper lip before a competition for “good luck”, Samkova credits her entire team for her victory. She said that the wax technicians used the magic of physics to transform her board into a speed machine.

A three-time junior world champion, Samkova said that she has always dreamed of competing at the Olympics ever since she started watching the games as a young girl. Now that she has a gold medal, she is relishing the experience along with her co-victors.

Crowd favorite and expected winner, Lindsey Jacobellis finished last in the semifinal race, which qualified her for the “small” finals. Jacobellis was enjoying a comfortable lead in the semifinal heat when she made a sudden crash on a turn. While she won the small finals, Jacobellis could not hide her disappointment with the turn of events.

According to American contender Faye Gulini, the massive Russian cross course was extremely tough and quite daunting. Another American snowboarder Jackie Hernandez suffered a serious head injury during the seeding race, which caused her a concussion. Fortunately, she was able to watch teammate Gulini as she finished fourth in the final race, just behind French snowboarder Trespeuch.

Video clip from Sochi

Image via YouTube