"A young Ester Ledecka had heard it all before, that a real champion commits body and soul to a single sport. She wasn't having it. And instead of following conventional wisdom she rewrote what was possible by winning the super-G on skis and the parallel giant slalom on snowboard at the 2018 Pyeongchang Games. That made the Czech winter sports whiz the first athlete to win two gold medals in two different sports at the same Winter Olympics."
"Four years later, she won another gold medal in snowboard in Beijing, where she just missed the podium on skis with a fifth-place finish in super-G. Despite a scheduling conflict that makes it impossible for her to compete in women's downhill skiing she can make some more Olympic history at the Milan Cortina Games when she goes for another double in snowboarding parallel GS and super-G on skis."
"No snowboarder, not even the great Shaun White, has won the same event at three consecutive Olympics. Ledecka, now 30, will shoot for that feat in the Italian Alps. Her final is scheduled for Feb. 8, four days before the women's halfpipe final, where Chloe Kim will attempt three in a row as well. Ledecka is in fine form after winning a recent World Cup in snowboard PGS in Austria, her only snowboard warmup for the Olympics this year."
Ester Ledecka won Olympic gold in both super-G on skis and parallel giant slalom on snowboard in 2018, becoming the first athlete to win two golds in different sports at the same Winter Games. She won another snowboard gold in Beijing and finished fifth in super-G there. Scheduling prevents her from entering the Olympic downhill, but she plans to pursue a double at Milan Cortina in snowboard parallel GS and super-G skiing. Ledecka seeks a rare three-peat in the same snowboard event and arrives in form after a World Cup snowboard PGS victory in Austria and a super-G warmup race.
Read at www.mercurynews.com
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