Ester Ledecka defends Olympic snowboard PGS title, ski racing next

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In the four years since Ester Ledecka made Olympic history with gold medals in both skiing and snowboarding, she conceded she’s thought about slowing down a little.

Maybe even — dare she say — neglect her snowboard a bit to focus more on the skiing side.

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Good thing she kept on shredding.

The standout from the Czech Republic defended her snowboard parallel giant slalom title with a quick final run on a sun-splashed course Tuesday. Next up, a trip to the Alpine venue where she'll try for a repeat run at history when she attempts to defend her super-G crown on Friday.

"If I had decided to only do skiing, then I would’ve spent four years on the skiing," Ledecka said. "And I’d be here watching this race and I would feel sad that I couldn’t compete."

Four years ago in South Korea, Ledecka became the first competitor to win gold in two different sports at the same Winter Games. She has a chance to accomplish the feat again in China.

Gold medalist Czech Republic's Ester Ledecka celebrates during the venue ceremony for the women's parallel giant slalom at the 2022 Winter Olympics, Tuesday, Feb. 8, 2022, in Zhangjiakou, China.  (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)

In addition to super-G, Ledecka plans on racing the downhill (Feb. 15) and combined (Feb. 17). It's an ambitious task.

"I hope I’ll switch myself very fast and I’ll enjoy it on the ski side too," she said.

Unlike Alpine skiers, snowboarders race side by side on the giant slalom course in an NCAA Tournament-like format. It starts with 16 riders and narrows down to two who go for gold.

In the gold-medal race, Ledecka, who earned the top seed based on time trials earlier in