Alpine skiing-Ledecka abandons downhill dream in Cortina, prioritises snowboarding
Alpine Skiing - FIS Alpine World Ski Championships - Women's Downhill Training - Saalbach, Austria - February 5, 2025 Czech Republic's Ester Ledecka in action REUTERS/Lisi Niesner
Ester Ledecka has opted to prioritise snowboard over Alpine skiing at next year's Winter Olympics because of a scheduling clash that means she cannot race in the women's downhill.
The 30-year-old Czech made history at the Pyeongchang Games in 2018 when she became the first woman to win gold in two different sports at the same Winter Olympics.
"I cried a bit few times about it, but we did the best we could," Ledecka told Olympics.com.
"I understand that it's not easy to coordinate the program, but I believed that it could be done. I'm the only athlete who has qualified for the event in two sports for the third time, so I was hoping that they would take that into account."
Ledecka claimed gold on her snowboard in parallel giant slalom in 2018 and won the Alpine skiing super-G.
She wanted to race in the Olympic downhill in Cortina d'Ampezzo on February 8 but it clashes with the parallel giant slalom final, four hours away in Livigno.
Ledecka's appeal to the International Olympic Committee to tweak the schedule had received support from Johan Eliasch, president of skiing's governing body, FIS, but was rejected.
She will be going for a third successive Olympic snowboard parallel giant slalom gold.
"At the moment we're certain that the program won't change," Jiri Kejval, head of the Czech Olympic Committee, said. "We're sorry about it but we did the maximum under the circumstances."
At this year's Alpine skiing world championships, Ledecka took bronze in the downhill.
Ledecka could still compete in the Olympic Alpine skiing super-G on February 12.
