Snowboarder forever silences skiers winning Super-G Gold

[Maximus Farcisimus]

22 year old Ester Ledecka beat all the full time skiers, on borrowed skis, after only 8 World Cup Super-G starts. She's too busy destroying World Cup Snowboarding(20 wins-40 starts) to ski more often.

Trains 3 weeks on a single plank then 3 weeks on a pair.

I really like the first line of her interview after winning....




Ester LEDECKA

On how she skied so fast:

"I was probably the only snowboarder on site. All the other girls didn't risk a lot. There must be a lot of pressure on them. I was just trying to do my best run."

On how she managed to beat the field by one hundredth of a second:

"I really don't know. You tell me. I was riding. I really don't know what happened. It was great."

On when she saw No.1 on the scoreboard:

"This must be some mistake. That they're going to switch the time for some others."

On whether she believes it now:

"No, still not."

On how she succeeded in super-G as a world-champion snowboarder:

"I don't know. I am so surprised about all of it. I'm really trying to win and do a good run every time but I didn't really realise that this really can happen."

On whether she ever dreamed of winning Alpine skiing gold:

"Yes, for sure, many times. I thought this will come much later on in my career. But this is great, if it can happen like that."

[pipedream]

Maybe I should take up skiing on silly long sticks again

[abraham]

Maybe I should take up skiing on silly long sticks again

[shroom]

damn, that is beautiful. the dude lacking head coverage had some big ass skis on.

[fiddler]

It was great to see...of course regular terrible NBC TV coverage stopped at racer 19 and they declared the medal winners. Lucky the NBC Sports app showed all the skiers online. When Ester came across .01 ahead I laughed out loud! The look on her face was puzzled at first, you could hear the finish line cameraman saying "You're the winner, you won!" It was great. Good luck to her in the snowboard competitions. With Ledecka, Veith and Weirather within .11 and Gut .01 behind Weirather for 4th it was a great race to watch.

[charles martel]

I went to bed after NBC declared Veith the winner. I was happy she had won after coming nack from such wicked inkuries. I was a big fan of hers.

Then, I woke up early and thought.it was a spoof from The Onion.

Wow!

Brexit, Trump and now this. Unpredictable. At least Ledecka is worthy. Most worthy. Damn! You go, girl!

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[fiddler]

Charles, tune in to the NBC Sports app, phone or computer for way better coverage. You get to see all the skiers entered with commentary about the skier skiing the run, instead of NBC TV where they talk about all kinds of distracting stuff and cut to commercials and miss racers. I'd pay to get EuroSport here, they know how to cover a race.
http://www.nbcolympics.com/news/how-...mpetition-live. This coverage is pretty good.

[m2711c]

And she did it on a pair of skis borrowed from mikaela Shiffrin.....






czech-skier-steals-olympic-gold-in-womens-super-g-on-mikaela-shiffrins-skis

[charles martel]

Charles, tune in to the NBC Sports app, phone or computer for way better coverage. You get to see all the skiers entered with commentary about the skier skiing the run, instead of NBC TV where they talk about all kinds of distracting stuff and cut to commercials and miss racers. I'd pay to get EuroSport here, they know how to cover a race.
http://www.nbcolympics.com/news/how-...mpetition-live. This coverage is pretty good.

Thx.

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[Vitamin I]

"...All the other girls didn't risk a lot. There must be a lot of pressure on them..." [-Ester Ledecka]

Yeah, it's hard to take Women's Ski Racing Super-G seriously when the "competitors" just let a snowboarder show up, borrow a pair of skis, then win gold---who then calls all of them out for not competing hard enough to take a risk. ...And also when the "competitors" let the bronze medal go to a nation of population only 37,000 (Liechtenstein).

.

[Benny Profane]

Amazing athlete. Great story.

[Meanfruit]

I wish this had happened on the men's side. All the griping would have been most entertaining. Bode would say that being a snowboarder is a serious distraction for a world cup skier, then have to apologise after the win

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[AweShuksan]

The girl can ski. She looked different than all the other competitors. It looked like her mind was focused on attacking the gates and going fast instead of on form. She had a natural, athletic look and opened the front of her body to the fall line and won by taking a shorter line than the others. I loved the way, when she finished her run, she just looked at the timing board with a blank stare on her face. There was no moment of realization, she simply didn't allow the possibility that she had won enter her consciousness.

But I wouldn't call her a "snowboarder" unless she has a snowboard strapped on her feet. She's definitely a skier. Some can do both competently. Most of those put their snowboards away or save them for a powder day.

[Angle Parking]

The girl can ski. She looked different than all the other competitors. It looked like her mind was focused on attacking the gates and going fast instead of on form. She had a natural, athletic look and opened the front of her body to the fall line and won by taking a shorter line than the others.
.

I agree. She was less 'polished' than the top skiers. As you put it however, she attacked the course which more than made up for it. Cool story.

[wyeaster]

buttpost but i think it is one of the most incredible athletic feats i can remember. i wonder if anybody made any money betting on her

[Jonny Snow]

Ehem......

[zartagen]

Thread title makes no sense. No skier is "silenced" because someone who also snowboards won a ski race. Are snowboarders silenced because Sean Pettit is a skier who also can rip and and shit in a snowboard? No.

I loved the look of disbelief on her face and the Canadian commentators just losing it.

[oftpiste]

But I wouldn't call her a "snowboarder" unless she has a snowboard strapped on her feet.

This. Clearly knows how to ski decently. That was pretty great!

[Meanfruit]

Shaun Palmer recovery in that vid....goes against the laws of nature. Guy's a freakish athlete.

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[Alpinord]

That was a fun race to watch. Lots of good skiing and lead changes. I did wonder why many racers did the check turn where Ester Ledecka went straight. The lady is an athlete that can definitely ski and snowboard.

Did she ski before she snowboarded, visa versa, both or what?

Edit: from Profile

Many Olympic snowboarders started off on skis before ultimately switching to snowboarding. That holds true with Ester Ledecka, except for one thing — instead of committing herself to just snowboarding, she decided to continue doing both sports. And although Alpine snowboarding is her specialty, she has participated in Alpine skiing events at the World Cup level and dreams of becoming a dual-sport Olympian. (In PyeongChang, she is set to become the first athlete to compete in both snowboarding and skiing at the Olympics.)

It'd be interesting to see if she can be consistent and move up the standings on the WC circuit.

Here's her run video: http://www.nbcolympics.com/news/two-...ond-best-sport

[buttahflake]

Shaun Palmer recovery in that vid....goes against the laws of nature. Guy's a freakish athlete.

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Talk about core strength, holy shit.

[willywhit]

Ehem......

I was there for that. Too bad Palmer is such a prick. RIP Shane
great athlete but a douche

[k2skier112]

Fuck you NBC. I was already pissed off on how few racers they showed. Too many spoilers online, I just DVR'd everything, that's going to change, online viewing is the only way to go.

I can see why the OP would make a deal out of someone going both ways, with snowboarding on a decline of late. If you can ride a smooth carved edge, it easily transfers from 1 plank to 2.

[boltonoutlaw]

Hahaha: "What in the wide world of sports did he eat this morning to make that recovery...?!"

Ehem......

[Name Redacted]

Palmer was a dick, but that attitude was what everyone of those sports needed at the time. It kept them fresh. Miserable Champion.

Back on topic, that chick's a badass. Hope she goes far.