02/08/26 08:07:00
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02/08 08:05 CST Ledecka's quest for Olympic snowboarding three-peat comes to a
shocking halt
Ledecka's quest for Olympic snowboarding three-peat comes to a shocking halt
By EDDIE PELLS
AP National Writer
LIVIGNO, Italy (AP) --- Ester Ledecka's quest to become the first snowboarder
to win gold medals at three straight Olympics came to a surprisingly early end
Sunday.
She lost her quarterfinal race in the sport's parallel giant slalom by 0.06
seconds to Austria's Sabine Payer.
Instead of Ledecka, the gold medal went to another Czech racer. It was Zuzana
Maderova, a 22-year-old with no World Cup wins who opened a gap on the
slip-sliding Payer and blew her away by 0.83 seconds in the gold-medal race for
her first victory in a major event.
The only repeat on this day belonged to Austria's Benjamin Karl, who won his
second straight title, then celebrated by stripping off his shirt, doing a huge
weightlifter flex, then falling, bare-chested, into the snow.
Ledecka was a spectator for all of it after coming into the Milan Cortina Games
as a big favorite for gold. She hadn't lost a PGS World Cup race in almost two
years and hadn't missed a podium in five.
She dominated through the qualifying heats, finishing her two time trials a
full .69 seconds faster than the next-best racer to draw top seeding in the
16-woman bracket. That second-place racer was Maderova, and in a sign of how
the Czech Republic dominates this sport right now, nobody else was within 1.39
seconds of her.
But in the second round of head-to-head action, Ledecka was done. Payer bolted
out to an early lead, carved tight lines between the gates and never trailed.
She adds this silver medal to two wins on the World Cup circuit this season.
For Maderova, win No. 1 came at the very best place --- the Olympics on a
bright, sunny day at Livigno Snow Park.
Ledecka made history in 2018 when she became the first athlete to win both a
snowboard race and one on skis at the same Olympics. Her Alpine skiing super-G
win was considered a shocker, but most who follow the sport expected her to
dominate in her "better" event, the PGS, and she did.
She defended the snowboarding title in China four years ago.
This year, she was hoping to get wins in both the Alpine women's downhill and
PGS, but they were scheduled on the same day. She chose snowboard and ended up
with neither title --- her loss coming a couple hours after Lindsey Vonn's
wipeout on the downhill course.
Ledecka is still scheduled to race in skiing's super-G on Thursday.
She has raced almost exclusively on skis in the leadup to the Olympics this
season --- nine Alpine races, which netted one podium, compared to only one
snowboard event, which she won.
Ledecka's loss gives Austria's Anna Gasser a chance to become the first
snowboarder to win three straight Olympic titles. Gasser takes the hill in big
air qualifying later Sunday. Also trying for a three-peat is Chloe Kim. Her
halfpipe contest starts Wednesday.
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AP Winter Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics
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