Trailblazer Ledecka shares her journey to greatness

Jul 03, 2026·Snowboard Alpine

Ledecka took first in Winterberg 2024, less than a week after a podium on skis. Photo: @FIS/Miha Matavz

Reaching the highest level in any sport is akin to summitting Mt. Everest. Try, doing it in two.

Impossible? Not for Ester Ledecka.

The Czech athlete has racked up medals across World Cups, World Championships, and Winter Olympic Games in snowboard Alpine and Alpine skiing since debuting at the senior level in her teenage years.

Last season she became the first athlete of any gender, to win FIS world championship medals in two different disciplines in the same season. Ledecka took gold in parallel giant slalom and silver in parallel slalom on the snowboard and added a bronze in downhill on the skis. Not to mention five world championship podium finishes on snowboard across her career.

Nothing new for the dual-sport threat. The challenge of multitasking in the athletic world started at a young age.

“I started with freestyle snowboarding first in the halfpipe and snowboard cross. My brother started first and I always wanted to be like him. He started skiing, I started skiing. He started snowboarding, I started snowboarding. We snowboarded together for a long time,” “If he was not around, I don’t know if I would have ever started snowboarding,” – Ledecka said.

HUMBLE BEGINNINGS

However, it was not love at first sight for Ledecka and the snow.

“I struggled a lot on the freestyle board. I started skiing when I was two years old and snowboarding when I was five. So, at five, I was already a really good skier and racing. So when I started snowboarding, everything was difficult for me. I was falling a lot and always on my ass,”– Ledecka said.

Again, a familiar face helped push her along.

“My brother helped me a lot, and I was copying him. I wanted to improve and be better than him because I was a very competitive child and I still am,"– Ledecka said.

That competitive spirit appears throughout her career.

Ledecka continues to compete on both tours refusing to ditch either. She has spent more time on the Alpine ski circuit in recent years, but keeps a soft spot for snowboarding, where she first burst onto the scene.

“Now when I go on the slopes, I don’t think skiing gives me as much pleasure. The perfect conditions on a snowboard are much more fun. I remember the last camp I had, I told my coach after a few free runs during training, I told him that I am so sorry for the people who never have the chance to feel this because it is an amazing feeling,” – Ledecka said.

The love grew after Ledecka collected bruises from the hard boots and falls on the technical snowboard, learning how to carve down the slope. The love deepened once she got the hang of it, as she chased her faster brother down the hill. The two are a year and a half apart and Ledecka constantly references her older brother as the motivation that pushed her to an elite level.

Ledecka made her world cup debut on the snowboard Alpine tour in 2012, at the ripe age of 17. It was there, where she had her first reality check after a rapid ascent in the sport.

“I qualified for the finals and then got my ass kicked by Claudia Riegler in the first run.” “I was there at the start, and she had her physio there. I had no staff around me. She had her physio and coach, and they were massaging their legs before the start. I was just standing there, like oh my god it is Claudia Riegler. I am going to race against her, so it was an awesome experience,” – Ledecka said.

Since then, Ledecka has racked up 26 wins on the snowboard Alpine World Cup circuit. Not to mention three snowboard world championships titles and two Olympic gold medals.

Proving her versatility, Ledecka began her Alpine skiing senior-level career in 2016 and has added an Olympic gold in Alpine ski Super G, a bronze in the world championships of downhill, and four World Cup victories. She also podiumed in an Alpine ski World Cup event in the same week as taking the victory at the Winterberg World Cup Parallel Slalom race on the board.

Ledecka takes her first snowbaord win in Rogla in 2014. Photo: @FIS/Miha Matavz

Ledecka also excels at multiple disciplines on the skis and both racing styles of snowboard Alpine, PGS and PSL.

“I love both disciplines. I wish both were in the Olympics,” Ledecka said. “My favourite would probably be PGS. I love them both, each one has something special.”

One of her greatest achievements came in PyeongChang 2018 when she claimed gold in snowboard Alpine PGS and gold in Alpine ski Super G. A crowning achievement amidst her long, ongoing Olympic journey.

Ledecka became the first athlete with two golds in two disciplines at the same Olympics in 2018. Photo: olympijskytym.cz

The Olympics always bring more pressure. Ledecka always carried their significance long before she walked in her first opening ceremony.

“I dreamed of winning Olympic gold because of my grandpa. He was a former hockey player and won the world championships and had an Olympic medal. For him, the Olympics was always one of the biggest events, like it is for many athletes,”– Ledecka said.

Her grandfather is Jan Klapáč, who won two Olympic medals in ice hockey (bronze in 1964 and silver in 1968) representing Czechoslovakia.

It was not always smooth sailing for Ledecka at the Games. In Sochi 2014 she suffered a brutal back injury and went home thinking she may never compete at the top level again.

However, with the help of a stellar physio team, she returned.

Ledecka takes her first Parallel overall crystal globe in 2016. Photo: @FIS/Oliver Kraus

“In my second Olympics in PyeongChang, which was the first Olympics where I qualified in skiing and snowboarding, And I won gold in both sports. Which was a huge thing,”– Ledecka said.

Four years later and things changed. In Beijing 2022, she was the hunted, everyone aiming to snatch her hardware.

“China was completely different. I was there to defend the title, and expectations were high. I was trying to reach it again. That is what it is beautiful about winning, you have raised the bar so high, that you must raise your own bar to be even better. It is also the most difficult part of sport,”– Ledecka said.

She won gold again in snowboarding but just came fifth and fourth in two ski races.

This year at Milano Cortina 2026, Ledecka came in with just one snowboard World Cup event under her belt, which she won. In Italy, she remained proud of her fifth-place finish in snowboard Alpine and shrugs off her DNF in her lone skiing event.

“I still believe I have a couple Olympics in front of me,”– Ledecka said.

Ledecka took fifth in PGS at the 2026 Winter Olympics. Photo: olympijskytym.cz

SNOWBOARD ALPINE’S RISE

As Ledecka has racked up awards, her favorite sport continues to ascend as well.

“When I was starting there was maybe eight races per season. Now there are 14 or 16 races each year. It is getting more popular. More young athletes are also performing. I see so many new people coming into the World Cup. It is cool to see the sport grow and have the chance to race on new hills. It is cool to be around so long to see the differences in the sport now,” – Ledecka said.

Ledecka sees the sport’s fast-paced action as a major reason for the growth.

“Snowboarding is much more fun to watch because you can see the whole run. There are two snowboarders racing against each other. It is really cool and we are on a very good way,”– Ledecka said.

Ledecka with her team after grabbing two medals at 2025 snowboard world championships. Photo: @FIS/Miha Matavz

As one of the leaders in the sport, Ledecka knows she is not always setting the pace. She notices how the young generation is hot on her generation’s heals as the sport globalizes.

“Having a young base in each country is a great sign that the sport is healthy and growing,”– Ledecka said.

LASTING LEGACY

It should be no surprise that Ledecka shows no signs of slowing down. The 31-year-old is one of the most experienced on tour and is still one of the biggest threats.

Ledecka opened the 2024-25 season with a win in Mylin, China. Photo: @FIS/Miha Matavz

“I love this sport,” Ledecka said. “I enjoy competing and racing. I enjoy all the training,”

Her competitive gears are always greased. When off the slopes in the summer, the Czech star enjoys many other activities including windsurfing.

“My grandpa told me to play multiple sports as a kid and that I should learn to move my body in all kinds of ways,”– Ledecka said.

As a kid she did it all including snowboarding, skiing, ice hockey, beach volleyball, cycling, running, ice skating, wakeboarding, and water skiing.

“I love to learn new things. I think it all makes a mosaic of skills you have and helps with your main sport,”– Ledecka said.

Sports also help guide her in every facet of life.

“Any sport helps you in life outside the sport. It teaches you discipline, the highs and lows, and even in the lows you have to fight and go again and again,” “You have winning, but there is always losing and pain. There is stress and fatigue on your body and everything around it. And also, for your head when you are competing. All of this makes you stronger in the end," – Ledecka said.

Ledecka victorious in Simonhohe, her lone snowboard WC race in 2026. Photo: @FIS/Miha Matavz

Those life lessons are why Ledecka loves the athlete life. Even though she is aiming for more Olympic appearances and trophies to put in her crowded cabinet, Ledecka is not scared of legacy talk. She is a living legend in her sport, yet she hopes she is remembered for more when she hangs up the boots.

“I hope I will leave a path that is not ordinary. I hope I am remembered, not only as a good athlete, but a good person. Not just because of all the wins, but all the ways I acted outside the winning and how I behaved when I was losing. How I behaved towards media and towards my competitors. I wish they will remember me as a kind person and a funny one every once in awhile. I also hope they remember me as someone special. There is no other athlete who has competed in snowboard Alpine and Alpine skiing at the same time at such a high level. So, I hope they will remember me like that. I hope I will be there for a long, long time and until that happens,”– Ledecka said.

The Czech legend is already prepping for another run at Olympic glory in the French Alps come 2030 where she will chase a third Olympic snowboarding gold. For now, she will keep carving her own path with no one following the unique path she sets.

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Trailblazer Ledecka shares her journey to greatness

HUMBLE BEGINNINGS

SNOWBOARD ALPINE’S RISE

LASTING LEGACY

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