Winter Olypmics: Ester Ledecka upset in her bid for third straight gold

LIVIGNO, Italy — Czech star Ester Ledecka, the two-time defending gold medalist in women’s parallel giant slalom, suffered a shocking defeat Sunday in the quarterfinals and did not make the podium.

Heavily favored to win this event for the third time, Ledecka got out of the starting gate a beat slow and could not make up ground on Austria’s Sabine Payer, ultimately failing to advance by 0.06 seconds.

Advertisement

The result was particularly surprising given that Ledecka posted the fastest qualifying time for the event by .69 seconds over two runs and was nearly three full seconds faster than Payer.  It’s her first loss in this event since 2023.

The second-favorite for the event, Japan’s Tsubaki Miki, was also eliminated in the quarterfinals.

Instead, it was Ledecka’s countrywoman, Zuzana Maderova, who cruised to the gold medal with a .83-second victory over Payer in the big final. Lucia Dalmasso added another medal for host Italy with a victory over another Italian, Elisa Caffont, for the bronze.

Ledecka became an international fascination in 2018 when she pulled off an unprecedented double, winning a gold medal on both a snowboard and skis, shocking the field in the Super G.

Advertisement

Because of this year’s schedule and the long distance between Livingo and the women’s Alpine events in Cortina, Ledecka essentially chose competing in PSG over the downhill. She was trying to join an exclusive club of Olympic athletes like Usain Bolt and Katie Ledecky who have won an event three straight times, but it was not to be.

It’s unclear whether parallel giant slalom will be included in the 2030 Olympic program in the French Alps, as it has been placed under review by the IOC. Viewership of the event, which pits riders in a side-by-side race, is said to be key in whether it survives another Olympic cycle.

Advertisement

Riders have launched a social media campaign #keepPSGolympic. In a video posted to Instagram, earlier this week, Ledecka said: “It’s an amazing sport, which for sure belongs to the Olympics. My personal opinion doesn’t matter at all, but I just hope that the opinion of the person which will matter will fight for our place because I think we deserve that.”