Tired Ester Ledecka after 5th place in super G: 'I feel I was a little bit snowboarder'

Three-time Olympic gold medallist Ester Ledecka said she felt “a little bit snowboarder” after competing in the women’s alpine super G on Friday (11 February) at the Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games.

The ‘dual-threat’ Czech failed to defend her ski title from PyeongChang 2018 as she finished in fifth position on 'The Rock' course at the Beijing National Ski Centre, 0.43 seconds behind winner Lara Gut-Behrami.

“I think it was a good run. It was a solid run, but still, I feel I was a little bit snowboarder. I didn't switch myself completely yet, but I hope I will in the next coming days,” said the 26-year-old, who missed a medal by 0.13 seconds.

“I still had a good run and yeah, I was doing my best and I had fun. So that's the main thing.”

On 8 February Ledecka successfully retained her parallel giant slalom snowboard title on the slopes of the Genting Snow Park in Zhangjakou.

Attending the medal ceremony in the Zhangjiakou medal plaza, and the 120km-drive to Yanqing, where the alpine skiing venue is located, took a toll on her:

“[It’s been] Very hectic, especially when you come off the medal ceremony at half past midnight in the village. And then the next day I already had the training, so I was a little bit tired and my body was a little bit tired from the standing,” Ledecka said after the super G.

“You know, it's great the [medal] ceremony, I love it, but it was really long and I'm not trained for it so well. So I have to train more and do more podiums. So then if I'm trained, I'm not exhausted [anymore]!," she joked.

The Czech now hopes to rest so she can be ready for the downhill alpine ski race, with the first practice session scheduled for Saturday 12 February: “I now go home and I will sleep for a while. I'm