Three-time Olympic ski and snowboard champion Ester Ledecka will delay her return to the slopes this winter after undergoing a second collarbone surgery, she announced.
“I will do my best to return to the game next year in full form”, said the Czech athlete in a statement. She revealed that she underwent another collarbone surgery in Innsbruck, Austria, late last week. The 27-year-old skiing champion broke her collarbone over the summer while training.
Ester Ledecka hopes to be able to compete at the World Alpine Skiing Championships in Courchevel Meribel (France, February 6-19) as well as the World Snowboarding Championships in Bakuriani (Georgia, February 19-March 5).
“Now I have to be patient, cross my fingers that everything heals as planned”, said Ester Ledecka.
Ester Ledecka is a Czech snowboarder and alpine skier. She achieved an unthinkable success – she became the Olympic champion in parallel slalom in snowboarding and in Super-G at the PyeongChang Games in 2018. She became the Olympic snowboard champion in Beijing in 2022. She is the first person to not only compete in the Winter Olympics using two different types of equipment (skis and snowboard) but further to win two gold medals and do so at the same Winter Olympics. She was the second woman to win Olympic gold in two separate disciplines but the first to do so at the same Winter Olympics. She was the first Czech to win the parallel giant slalom in snowboarding at the FIS Snowboard World Cup.
