Ester Ledecká facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
Ester Ledecká

Ledecká in 2017
Personal information
Born	(1995-03-23) 23 March 1995 (age 30) Prague, Czech Republic
Height	173 cm
Weight	68 kg
Sport
Country	Czech Republic
Sport	Snowboarding Alpine skiing
Event(s)	Parallel slalom, parallel giant slalom Downhill, super-G, combined
Club	Dukla Liberec
Coached by	Justin Reiter (snowboard) Tomáš Bank, Ondřej Bank (ski)
Achievements and titles
World finals	Gold medal in parallel slalom at Kreischberg 2015 Gold medal in parallel giant slalom at Sierra Nevada 2017 Silver medal in parallel slalom at Sierra Nevada 2017
Olympic finals	Gold medal in Parallel giant slalom at Pyeongchang 2018 Gold medal in Super-G at Pyeongchang 2018 Gold medal in Parallel giant slalom at Beijing 2022
Highest world ranking	1st in Parallel World Cup (2016–2019) 1st in Parallel giant slalom World Cup (2016, 2018, 2019) • 2nd in Ski Downhill World Cup (2020) • 3rd in Alpine Combined World Cup (2020)
Medal record Representing  Czech Republic Women's snowboarding International snowboarding competitions Event 1st 2nd 3rd Olympic Games 3 0 0 World Championships 2 1 0 Junior World Championships 2 0 0 Olympic Games Gold 2018 Pyeongchang Parallel giant slalom Gold 2022 Beijing Parallel giant slalom World Championships Gold 2015 Kreischberg Parallel slalom Gold 2017 Sierra Nevada Parallel giant slalom Silver 2017 Sierra Nevada Parallel slalom Junior World Championships Gold 2013 Erzurum Parallel slalom Gold 2013 Erzurum Parallel giant slalom European Youth Olympic Festival Gold 2011 Liberec Parallel giant slalom Women's alpine skiing International alpine skiing competitions Event 1st 2nd 3rd Olympic Games 1 0 0 World Championships 0 0 0 Total 1 0 0 Olympic Games Gold 2018 Pyeongchang Super-G

Ledecká with Martina Sáblíková (left) at Old Town Square in Prague after returning from the 2018 Winter Olympics

Ester Ledecká (born March 23, 1995) is an amazing athlete from the Czech Republic. She is special because she competes in two different winter sports: snowboarding and alpine skiing. At the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, she made history!

Ester won gold medals in both sports at the same Olympics. This means she was the first person ever to win two gold medals using different types of equipment (skis and a snowboard) at the same Winter Games. She also became the first Czech athlete to win the parallel giant slalom in the FIS Snowboard World Cup.

Early Life and Sports Beginnings

Ester Ledecká was born in Prague, the capital of the Czech Republic. Her family is very sporty! Her mom, Zuzana, was a figure skater. Her dad, Janek Ledecký, is a famous musician. Her grandpa, Jan Klapáč, was an ice hockey player who won many medals.

Ester started playing ice hockey when she was little. Then, at age four, she began skiing. When she was five, she added snowboarding to her activities. She says she followed her older brother into snowboarding. She even did freestyle snowboarding and boardercross before trying alpine snowboarding. She wanted to beat her brother, so she learned that too!

When she's not on the snow, Ester enjoys playing the guitar and singing. She also likes summer sports like beach volleyball and windsurfing.

Ester's Amazing Career Journey

Ester Ledecká started her professional career in the 2012–13 FIS Snowboard World Cup. She finished 13th in her first big event. In March 2013, when she was just 17, she won two gold medals at the Junior World Championships. Because of her success, she was named "Junior Sportsperson of the Year" in the Czech Republic.

Rising in Snowboarding

In the 2013–14 FIS Snowboard World Cup, Ester started to shine. She earned second and third places in parallel slalom events. Then, she won a gold medal in the parallel giant slalom at Rogla, Slovenia. This made her the first Czech person to win a World Cup snowboarding event in that discipline. She was only the third Czech ever to win any World Cup snowboarding event.

Ester made her first Olympic appearance at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi. She competed in the parallel giant slalom snowboarding event. She reached the quarter-finals and finished seventh overall.

Conquering Two Sports

Ester is unique because she competes in both snowboarding and alpine skiing. She started racing in the FIS Alpine Ski World Cup in February 2016. In her first race, she finished 24th. She quickly started earning points in downhill and super-G races.

In 2017, she became the first athlete to compete in both the Skiing and Snowboarding World Championships. She won a gold medal in parallel giant slalom and a silver in parallel slalom at the Snowboarding World Championships. At the Alpine Skiing World Championships, she finished in the top 30 in downhill, super-G, and combined events.

Historic Olympic Gold Medals

Ester Ledecká truly shocked the world at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang. She won the gold medal in the super-G alpine skiing event. This was a huge surprise because she was ranked 49th in the world for that event and had never won a World Cup skiing medal before! She finished just 0.01 seconds ahead of the defending champion.

After this amazing win, she kept her goggles on during the press conference. She said it was her trademark and that she hadn't expected to win, so she didn't put on makeup!

A few days later, she won another gold medal in the parallel giant slalom snowboarding event. This made her the first woman ever to win Olympic gold medals in two different sports at the same Winter Olympics! It was an incredible achievement. Ester was chosen to carry the flag for the Czech Republic at the closing ceremony.

Continued Success

Ester continued to excel in both sports. In December 2019, she won her first Alpine Ski World Cup race in downhill at Lake Louise, Canada. In December 2020, she won her first World Cup Super-G race.

She kept splitting her time between snowboarding and skiing. In the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, she won another gold medal in the parallel giant slalom snowboarding event, defending her title! In alpine skiing, she finished fifth in super-G and fourth in combined.

In 2022, she had an injury but worked hard to return. She came back for the final snowboarding races in March 2023 and won the parallel slalom event. She continues to be a top athlete in both sports.

World Cup Achievements

Ester has won many titles and races in both snowboarding and alpine skiing.

Snowboarding World Cup

Ester has won 7 World Cup season titles in snowboarding, including 4 overall parallel titles and 3 parallel giant slalom titles.

She has also achieved many top finishes in the World Cup standings:

Ester has won 25 World Cup races in snowboarding (19 parallel giant slalom, 6 parallel slalom) and has been on the podium 39 times.

Alpine Skiing World Cup

Ester has also done very well in alpine skiing World Cups. She finished 2nd in the Downhill World Cup in 2020 and 3rd in 2022. She was also 3rd in the Combined World Cup in 2020.

Ester has won 4 World Cup races in alpine skiing (2 downhill, 2 super-G) and has been on the podium 11 times.

Olympic Results

Ester Ledecká has won 3 gold medals at the Winter Olympics.

Snowboarding Olympic Results

She has won 2 gold medals in snowboarding.

Year	Age	Parallel slalom	Parallel giant slalom
2014 Sochi	18	6	7
2018 Pyeongchang	22	N/A	1
2022 Beijing	26	N/A	1

Alpine Skiing Olympic Results

She has won 1 gold medal in alpine skiing.

Year	Age	Giant slalom	Super-G	Downhill	Combined
2018 Pyeongchang	22	23	1	N/A	N/A
2022 Beijing	26	N/A	5	27	4

World Championships Results

Ester has also competed in World Championships for both sports.

Snowboarding World Championships

She has won 3 medals (2 gold, 1 silver) at the Snowboarding World Championships.

Year	Age	Parallel  slalom	Parallel giant slalom
2011 La Molina	15	40	33
2013 Stoneham	17	17	16
2015 Kreischberg	19	1	5
2017 Sierra Nevada	21	2	1

Alpine Skiing World Championships

Year	Age	Downhill	Super-G	Giant slalom	Slalom	Combined
2017 St. Moritz	21	21	29	37	—	20
2019 Åre	23	17	27	—	—	15
2021 Cortina	25	4	4	—	—	8

See also

• List of multi-sport athletes - Snowboarding
• Dual sport and multi-sport Olympians
• Czech Republic at the 2014 Winter Olympics
• Czech Republic at the 2018 Winter Olympics
• List of multiple Olympic gold medalists in one event