Ester Ledecka won her second consecutive Olympic gold medal in the parallel snowboard giant slalom after triumphing in Beijing 2022.
The Czech, who won four years ago in PyeongChang 2018 in addition to the gold in snowboarding, also in the Super-G of alpine skiing, was the fastest earlier today, after which she was uncompromising in the direct eliminations.
In the round of 16, she defeated Italy’s Nadya Ochner before meeting Poland’s Aleksandra Krol in the second round. Ester Ledecka also had no problems in it and secured a battle with Michelle Dekker in the semifinals. In the descent for the gold, the Czech dealt with the Austrian Daniela Ulbing, who stayed with the silver.
Interestingly, all four of Ester Ledecka’s rivals in the phase of direct eliminations did not reach the final of the respective series, which further facilitated the Czech woman on the way to gold.
“I tried to stay focused all day”, said Ester Ledecka. “I didn’t think so much about anything else that I didn’t know if another round was coming up, so I didn’t celebrate at all”, added the Czech, who also won gold in the super-giant alpine slalom four years ago.
Austria’s Daniela Ulbing, who finished second, said she risked everything in her attempt to beat Ledecka.
“I know I’m fast, but she was really, really fast, so I had to give the best I could. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t, but overall I’m happy”, said Daniela Ulbing.
The bronze in Beijing was won by the Slovenian Gloria Kotnik, who defeated the Dutch Michelle Dekker in the small final.
Ester Ledecka’s program at the Beijing Olympics continues on Friday when the women’s super-giant slalom will take place, in which she will defend her unexpected gold from PyeongChang 2018.
