Ledecka, snowboarder who stunned ski purists

The 22-year-old from the Czech Republic, starting number 26 in a race many thought was already over, beat a host of favourites including American Lindsey Vonn.

She now has to decide whether to race Wednesday’s downhill, as it overlaps with training for qualification for next weekend’s snowboarding parallel slalom — in which she is a two-time world champion and hot favourite.

Long described as arrivistes who have muscled in on the mountain scene, snowboarders have frequently had self-professed purist alpine skiers frothing over their gluhwein.

While there has been little love lost in this — albeit waning — age-old rivalry, there is no doubt that snowboarding is here to stay.

The sport, which enjoys a much younger demographic than skiing, came into its own in the 1990s as the showpiece of the Winter X Games before being accepted as an Olympic sport in 1998.

With stars such as three-time US gold medallist Shaun White capturing the imagination of a generation, Ledecka has managed the startling crossover between the two sports in almost seamless fashion.

“I wish I had as much athleticism as she has to hop from sport to sport and win everything,” Vonn said of Ledecka after finishing sixth in the super-G.

“Unfortunately I’m only good at ski racing and she still beat me!”

– Keep it simple –

Ledecka, whose grandfather Jan Klapac won bronze at the 1964 Innsbruck Games, and silver four years later in Grenoble for the then-Czechoslovakia ice hockey team, said her secret was keeping it simple.

“It’s downhill, both of them, that’s the base, I think,” she deadpanned, when asked about how much overlap there was between skiing and snowboarding.

“I will just focus on riding downhill, that’s all. Every time.”

Ledecka, on skis aged two and snowboard at five, added: “For today I took confidence from snowboarding. I was standing at the start and I said to myself, ‘This is my dream, at the last Olympics you were here on just a snowboard, now you’re here on skis, so go do your best run’.

“From skiing for snowboard, I take the fast speed, I’m not afraid of the speed.”

Ledecka made her debut on the World Cup alpine skiing circuit in 2016 and a year later became the first person to compete in world championships in both skiing and snowboarding, nabbing a gold and silver in snowboard in Sierra Nevada and top-30 finishes in the downhill, super-G and combined in St Moritz.

Her best result before her super-G victory, one of the biggest shocks in Winter Olympic history, was a seventh place in Lake Louise downhill in November.

“My ski coach is going to be a little pushy after today!” she acknowledged.

“But I think I will change to snowboard now. I’ve done that for many years so I know how to do that.”

– ‘Rather be snowboarding’ –

Ledecka, who trains for each discipline in three-week blocks, revealed that she had had three snowboards prepped for training runs just 30 minutes after the super-G was due to end.

“I would rather go riding snowboard now. I wasn’t expecting to be sitting here, I already should have had three runs of snowboard,” she said at a press conference in which she refused to take off her goggles, saying they were her “brand” — something that might contravene IOC rules on sponsors.

She added: “I wasn’t as prepared as the other girls for the ceremony and I don’t have any make-up on.”

Ledecka showed her humble side, however, when she played down her all-round sporting ability.

“I don’t really think I’ve got the talent, I’ve just got on with it since I was a little child and throughout my career I’ve had luck in meeting good people, and I have a great team. They’re very supportive and professional and maybe that’s why I’m up here right now,” she said.

She added: “If the girls start snowboarding, I won’t be afraid at all.”

Her sporting versatility does not stop on the slopes.

Also an expert windsurfer, Ledecka was asked whether she was tempted to try to qualify for the 2020 Tokyo Summer Olympics.

“For sure, why not?!” she said.