She went up the hill a snowboarder but came down an Olympic champion skier. That's one way to tell the story of Ester Ledecka, the Czech athlete who stunned the world — and herself — by winning the women's Super-G race at the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics.
"How did that happen?" she asked a cameraman at the bottom of her run.
Before today, Ledecka had been most well-known as a snowboarder — that's where she's had the most success, including world titles and a trip to the Sochi Games in 2014. But she has refused to specialize in one sport, and she started racing on the World Cup Alpine circuit two years ago.
As for how she won, an elated Ledecka said, in a transcription from the Olympics' news service, "I really don't know what happened. You tell me ... I was riding. I really don't know what happened. It was great."
When asked for her reaction after seeing her name flash on top of the leadecommunity, Ledecka said she thought, "This must be some mistake, that they're going to switch the time for some others."
Ledecka, 22, beat Austria's Anna Veith — the defending champion in this event — by a sliver: 0.01 seconds, in a time of 1:21.11. Liechtenstein's Tina Weirather finished third. In the women's Super-G race, skiers take just one run down the hill.
For a sense of the magnitude of this upset, consider that ahead of the Olympics, Ledecka had been in the Super-G and in the World Cup Alpine skiing rankings. Weirather was sixth overall; Veith was 17th. Before today, Ledecka had never stood on a podium for international-level Alpine skiing; in snowboarding, she's won multiple championships.
The Czech Olympic team is calling it the "Miracle on Snow," echoing the Miracle on Ice of 1980, when the U.S. ice hockey team beat Russia.
Ester Ledecka: 'This Must Be Some Mistake,' Says Snowboarder After Winning Olympic Gold In Skiing : The Torch : NPR
"How did that happen?" she asked a cameraman at the bottom of her run.
Before today, Ledecka had been most well-known as a snowboarder — that's where she's had the most success, including world titles and a trip to the Sochi Games in 2014. But she has refused to specialize in one sport, and she started racing on the World Cup Alpine circuit two years ago.
As for how she won, an elated Ledecka said, in a transcription from the Olympics' news service, "I really don't know what happened. You tell me ... I was riding. I really don't know what happened. It was great."
When asked for her reaction after seeing her name flash on top of the leadecommunity, Ledecka said she thought, "This must be some mistake, that they're going to switch the time for some others."
Ledecka, 22, beat Austria's Anna Veith — the defending champion in this event — by a sliver: 0.01 seconds, in a time of 1:21.11. Liechtenstein's Tina Weirather finished third. In the women's Super-G race, skiers take just one run down the hill.
For a sense of the magnitude of this upset, consider that ahead of the Olympics, Ledecka had been in the Super-G and in the World Cup Alpine skiing rankings. Weirather was sixth overall; Veith was 17th. Before today, Ledecka had never stood on a podium for international-level Alpine skiing; in snowboarding, she's won multiple championships.
The Czech Olympic team is calling it the "Miracle on Snow," echoing the Miracle on Ice of 1980, when the U.S. ice hockey team beat Russia.
Ester Ledecka: 'This Must Be Some Mistake,' Says Snowboarder After Winning Olympic Gold In Skiing : The Torch : NPR
