Olympics Women’s Super-G medal results, highlights and more
By Zach Bigalke
Ester Ledecka is a world-class competitor in snowboarding. She shocked the field and snatched Olympic gold in the Super-G at Jeongseon Alpine Centre.
Ester Ledecka is better known for her prowess as a snowboarder than as an Alpine skier. Ledecka was the junior FIS snowboarding world champion in both the parallel slalom and the parallel giant slalom in 2013. She then went on to win the parallel slalom gold medal at the 2015 FIS World Championships and followed it up with parallel giant slalom gold and a silver in the parallel slalom in 2017.
In 2016, Ledecka decided to diversify her talents. She made her first appearance on the World Cup Alpine skiing circuit in February at Garmisch, and has ranked between No. 38 and No. 43 in the Super-G. The 22-year-old Czech ski/snowboard prodigy had to borrow skis just to make her way into the Super-G competition at the 2018 Winter Olympics.
Ledecka is on pace to win the parallel giant slalom World Cup for the third straight year. She is a favorite for gold when the women on snowboards hit the parallel giant slalom course at Phoenix Park on Feb. 24.
MEDAL RESULT | Alpine skiing women's Super-G
Ester Ledecka
Anna Veith
Tina Weirather
That is what made it all the more shocking when she stole away not just a podium spot but Olympic gold against the best Super-G skiers in the world. Ledecka went down the mountain long after the top skiers in contention had already tackled the course.
When Anna Veith bettered Tina Weirather’s time by one-tenth of a second on the 15th run of the day, it seemed like Austria had kept its gold streak alive in the event. Instead, Ledecka skied the best run of her still-young career to steal away the top spot of the podium by a single hundredth of a second.
Lindsay Vonn, skiing first in her final Winter Olympics, finished in a tie for sixth with Italy’s Federica Brignone. It was an unexpected finish all around, and now Vonn has only the downhill left to win one final medal.
In an Olympics where streaks have died and new stars have been born, Ledecka might be the biggest surprise yet.
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