The best snowboard racer in the world is still an alpine skier

On Tuesday at the 2022 Winter Olympics, dual-sport athlete Ester Ledecka of the Czech Republic won gold in parallel giant slalom to successfully defend her Olympic title.

That means the most dominant snowboard racer in the world is still an alpine skier.

After posting the fastest time in parallel giant slalom qualification in Beijing, Ledecka blazed her way through the bracket. The gold medal final came down to Ledecka and Daniela Ulbing of Austria.

Ledecka led from the start and crossed the line ahead of Ulbing, who was later ruled a DNF, though she still takes home the silver. Slovenia’s Gloria Kotnik – competing in her fourth Olympics – won bronze.

Ledecka said she was so focused on her snowboarding technique that she almost forgot she was competing in the final. “I was asking Daniela if that was really it, or if we had more rounds,” she laughed.

With the win, Ledecka is a three-time Olympic gold medalist: two in snowboarding, one in alpine skiing. She is also the first woman to win back-to-back gold medals in parallel giant slalom.

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While Ledecka’s fellow parallel snowboarders see their Olympics come to a close, the dual-sport athlete Czech star now has to pack up her room and move from one Olympic Village to another. The 2022 Winter Olympics are split between three competition zones: Beijing, Zhangjiakou, and Yanqing. Ledecka was based out of Zhangjiakou zone during the snowboarding competition, but the Prague resident will now head to Yanqing zone to compete in alpine skiing.

Ledecka joked that that move between villages was more daunting than competing in two sports.

“The hardest part is to take all the stuff and take it to the