Ester Ledecka became the first woman to claim gold medals in two sports at a Winter Olympics with a win in the snowboarding parallel giant slalom.
The 22-year-old Czech, who earned a shock victory in the skiing super G last Saturday, beat Germany’s Selina Jorg to win her second gold.
She is the fifth athlete to win in two sports at one Games and the first in unrelated events with the previous double wins coming in Nordic events.
Ledecka’s win on skis was one of the biggest shocks of the Pyeongchang Games, coming in an event she had never earned a podium finish, but she dominated the field in her favoured snowboard event.
The two-time reigning world champion qualified more than a second ahead of her rivals and looked serene throughout the knockout rounds.
The final was close in the early stages but Ledecka pulled away to win by 0.46 seconds.
“It’s probably the best story of these Games, absolutely incredible. What an athlete. It’s hard enough doing one discipline in alpine skiing.” BBC Sport commentator and five-time Olympian Graham Bell said.
Ester Ledecka started skiing aged two and snowboarding at five but only started on the skiing circuit in 2016.
Her super G win was described as “one of the most astonishing Olympic stories of all time” as she won on borrowed skis.
