Ester Ledecka became the first person to win world championships medals in Alpine skiing and snowboarding in the same season, seven years after her unprecedented gold medals in both sports at the PyeongChang Olympics.
Ledecka, a 29-year-old Czech, won her second world title in snowboarding’s parallel giant slalom on Thursday in Switzerland.
It marked her first start at snowboarding worlds since 2017, when she also won the event.
“Since then I didn’t do any world championships (in snowboarding) because it was always a little bit difficult with my timing with skiing,” she said. “I was really happy that this time I was able to do it.”
In 2018, Ledecka won the Olympic super-G in Alpine skiing (with a best prior World Cup finish of seventh), then a week later won the parallel giant slalom in snowboarding.
Last month, Ledecka took downhill bronze for her first World Alpine Skiing Championships medal.
Since the 2018 Olympics, she has competed in 23 World Cup events in snowboarding versus more than 75 World Cup races in Alpine skiing.
However, she has been more successful in snowboarding with 11 victories in those 23 World Cup starts since PyeongChang 2018.
“I am a snowboarder in heart,” she said Thursday.
At the 2026 Milan Cortina Olympics, the women’s parallel giant slalom is on Feb. 8, the same day as the women’s downhill about 150 miles away. The women’s super-G ski race is four days later.
Ledecka has said she has lobbied for a schedule change to break up the PGS and the downhill. She hasn’t announced which event she would pick if they remain on the same day.
Also Thursday, Italian Roland Fischnaller won his second world title in Alpine snowboarding, 10 years after his first. At age 44, he is the oldest snowboarder to win an individual World Championships medal.
Fischnaller competed at the last six Winter Olympics with a best finish of fourth in 2022.
Worlds continue Friday with slopestyle finals.
