Ester Ledecka exclusive: Dual skiing and snowboard star talks superhero powers… and competing at the Summer Olympics
The three-time Winter Olympic champion – and history-maker at PyeongChang 2018 – opens up about the challenges of juggling two sports in a season featuring both World Championships, and why windsurfing might be more than just a hobby.
Alpine skier or snowboarder? Neither. Czechia’s winter sport double threat Ester Ledecka would rather portray herself as a superhero, much like her logo's avatar.
“I’m trying to be (a superhero) as much as I can because I have to handle quite a lot of things,” the first-ever female athlete to become Olympic champion in two different sports at the same Winter Games told us in an exclusive interview.
Juggling two sports at once is something the three-time Olympic gold medallist has been managing since her teenage years. While the off-season allows her to focus on one sport for several weeks of training, race season presents the real challenge: overcoming fatigue and the logistics: “I would like to be able to teleport, it would really help me a lot with all the travels I have during the season,” Ledecka said when asked about the super power she would need the most.
The 29-year-old will immediately put her juggling skills to the test as the season begins.
She plans to compete in two snowboard alpine events in the People’s Republic of China (Mylin on 30 November–1 December and Yanqing on 7–8 December) before flying to the United States for the women’s speed skiing opener in Beaver Creek, starting on 11 December.
“It’s quite difficult because of the time difference, travelling, and everything, but they are actually the only two [snowboard] races that are not colliding with the women’s speed calendar,” she remarked.
Another challenge awaits her in January, with the Super G in St. Anton (skiing) on Sunday 12 January, and the qualifiers for the Parallel Giant Slalom (PGS) in Bad Gastein (snowboarding) starting on Tuesday 14 January.
“Let’s see how it goes, but my gosh, this is quite tight! It might be a coincidence, but there are no snowboard races when a slalom or giant slalom is scheduled!” Ledecka chuckled.
Despite all these challenges, the Czech star aims to compete in both World Championships for the first time since 2017, with Saalbach, Austria, hosting the skiing event in February and St. Moritz, Switzerland, staging the snowboarding Worlds in March.
“If the schedule stays like it is, we’ll probably ski a little bit more,” she admitted.
Ledecka's challenging balancing act
How does she manage training in two sports during the season? Is it more about the physical or mental stress? “It's a bit of both," Ledecka explained.
"There is a lot of traveling, which is also tiring. But my team is always helping me find out the best solutions. I am convinced that I have the best team in the World Cup!” she added.
In order to minimise travel, her two head coaches (Justin Reiter for snowboard and Franz Gamper for ski) sometimes join her at the same venue: "Every time we have ski trainings, I will also train on snowboard, so I will keep myself in shape."
A system that worked well last season, preventing her snowboarding coach from flying back and forth from the US.
"If we saw an opportunity for 2 or 3 weeks training on snowboard, we would just fit it in somewhere and that worked quite well."
Her physio Ladislav Polasek, who is a former MMA fighter, has a crucial role.
“I have him with me every day,” she continued. “He’s the one who’s with me on the snowboarding side. It’s really good because he sees the whole picture and can report to my snowboard coach and ski coaches about how my body is doing. They communicate really well.”
Ledecka adapts well to the different schedules, but her staff have to be incredibly flexible. “We’re all in the same boat right now, and we really enjoy it. That’s where we get our energy — from the pure happiness of racing in both sports!”
Ester Ledecka during snowboard training
Prioritising skiing this season
The three-time Olympic champion is finally fit and healthy after two challenging seasons. In 2022, she sustained a serious collarbone injury that kept her out for the entire season. Last year, she struggled to recover from pneumonia. “It’s been difficult with my sickness problems,” she revealed. “The recovery took much longer than we expected. I had a hard time breathing and was trying to push through so I could race as much as possible.
“Finally, the second type of antibiotics worked, and I was able to recover my full strength by the end of February, which was quite late…”
Despite the setbacks, Ledecka finished the season strong. She claimed three wins in snowboarding and achieved four top-four finishes in skiing, including a victory in Super-G at the World Cup Finals in Saalbach.
This season, she plans to add some GS events to her schedule, to qualify for the World Championships. “I’ll prioritise skiing a lot because I’m aiming for my best overall rankings, so I need to do as many ski races as possible.”
Having twice finished on the overall downhill podium, is she targeting a globe this season? “I’ll aim for it, for sure, and I’ll try my best. The problem is, once again, the last two downhill races overlap with the Snowboard World Championships. So, it will be a very difficult decision for me…”
And if a globe were at stake, would the back-to-back PGS Olympic champion skip the snowboard Worlds? “I really don’t know. We’ll see if it comes to that. I don’t usually think that far ahead. Right now, I’m focused on the next few races and taking it step by step.”
Ester Ledecka (right) and Anna Veith (left) at PyeongChang 2018
A former Olympic rival testing her skis
At PyeongChang 2018, Ledecka stunned the world at the Jeongseon Ski Centre, claiming her first gold medal with one of the biggest upsets in Olympic history.
Having never won a FIS Alpine World Cup race at the time, she claimed a surprise gold in Super-G, racing with bib no. 26. Some broadcasters had already cut their feed, assuming the podium was set. Her unexpected triumph bumped Austrian star and defending champion Anna Veith (nee Fenninger) off the top spot, just as Veith was beginning to celebrate victory.
Now, after retiring in 2020, Veith is working with Ledecka’s ski manufacturer, Kästle, testing her skis. “I haven’t met her yet, but I’m very happy about it because she’s an amazing skier, and I’ve always admired her,” Ledecka said. “I don’t really know who else could share better know-how than she does.”
Recently, Veith left the door open to making a comeback to the sport someday, following in the footsteps of recent returns by Marcel Hirscher and Lindsey Vonn: “Maybe... Why not!” Ledecka commented with a smile.
Ester Ledecka at LA 2028? 'Anything can happen'
To prepare for the upcoming busy season, just over a year before the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics, Ledecka took time to unwind in Greece. “That’s where I recharge my batteries the most every summer,” she said.
Accompanied by her trusted physiotherapist, her routine included two morning training sessions. Then, in the afternoon, as soon as the wind picked up, she would windsurf until sunset. “I’m there alone with my sail and the wind. I clear my head, and then I go back,” she explained.
Windsurfing might be more than just a hobby for the Czech athlete, who has been practising since she was 5 years old.
She also competed several times in the Defi Wind, one of the world's most renowned and toughest long-distance races, held in Gruissan, South of France.
With the iQFoil class of the sport featuring in the Olympics, could we see her give it a try at Los Angeles 2028? Surprisingly, the 29-year-old hasn’t ruled it out, especially if one of her sponsor partners supports her: “I'd probably sit down with them, as I do when discussing skiing and snowboarding races. I think we could find common ground, and if we did, I**’d probably give it a try—because, I mean, it would be fun**”
It may be a long shot, but Ester thrives on challenges. “My life is still quite long, so anything can happen!”
