Ester Ledecka gets her own Barbie doll
Ester Ledecka's Barbie has a red helmet, a lavish ski suit, and two Olympic gold medals.
Chloe Kim has one.
Gabby Douglas does too, Nicola Adams, Ibtihaj Muhammed and Hui Ruoqi all have one.
Emelia Earhart and Frida Kahlo. Them too.
Now PyeongChang double gold medallist Ester Ledecka has joined the list of Barbie 'Role Models'.
Ester Ledecka - Snow Queen
Ski or Snowboard? Ester Ledecka chose both and went where no woman had ever done.
A gold medal in a ski event and a gold medal in a snowboard event at the 2018 Winter Games proved Ester is 'Queen of the Snow'.
Ledecka was as shocked as everyone else.
“I really don’t know what happened,” Ledecka said after the race, “This must be some mistake, they’re going to switch the time for some others. I just saw my mum, we were watching each other, we didn’t understand.”
There was no mistake, Ledecka the snowboarder had won the Super-G on borrowed skis.
Vancouver 2010 downhill champion Lindsay Vonn was stunned:
“It’s definitely shocking. I wish I had as much athleticism as she has that I could just hop from sport to sport and just, like, win everything."
But unfortunately, I’m only good at ski racing – and she still beat me.”
Back where she belongs
Ledecky is ready for the new 2018/19 season and wants to bring her double jeopardy threat into the new campaign.
The 23-year-old will aim for a repeat of her incredible PyeongChang feat at the next World Championships, but scheduling may get in the way.
There is a partial clash between the skiing in Are, Sweden (5-17 February) and the snowboarding in Utah, USA (1-10 February).
I would love to race at both events, but that’s all I can tell you right now. - Ledecka
She will make her 2018-2019 ski debut at Lake Louise, where she recorded her only World Cup top-10 finish to date, at the end of November.
How to become a Barbie role model?
"I'd never thought I'd be an inspiration to Barbies," said Ledecka.
But how do you get to have an inspirational Barbie doll named after you?
"86% of moms surveyed are worried about the kind of role models their daughters are exposed to."
"That's why Barbie continues to showcase examples of inspirational women."
This is what the doll maker says about its 'Barbie celebrates role models' series.
And Ledecka certainly fits that mold.
The Czech skier and snowboarder became the first woman ever to win gold medals in different disciplines at the PyeongChang 2018 Olympics.
Her supreme Super-G ski and snowboard parallel giant slalom gold medals rewrote the history books.
Chloe Kim
Another star of PyeongChang was chosen for the Barbie Role Model initiative - halfpipe gold medal winner Chloe Kim.
“Barbie’s message — to show girls that they can be anything — is something I can get behind,” said Kim, who was 17 at the time.
“I’m so honored to be considered a role model and want girls to know that they can be athletic and girly at the same time!”
'Shero' Gabby Douglas
By the time she was eight, Gabby Douglas was already winning U.S. gymnastics State Championships.
Destined for Olympic glory, Douglas was the first African-American in history to clinch the individual all-around event, which she achieved at London 2012.
She also claimed team gold medals in London and at Rio 2016.
Nicola Adams - Barbie packs a punch
Adams joined the ranks of Olympic immortals when she took the first ever women's boxing Olympic gold medal in front of an adoring British crowd at London 2012.
When she retained her flyweight title at Rio 2016, 'The Lioness' became a household name.
No wonder then, that she was chosen to be a Barbie and inspire a new generation of young girls.
Ibtihaj Muhammed - Iconoclast
This U.S. fencer broke new ground for acceptance and tolerance when she was the first woman on the U.S. Olympic team to wear a Hijab while competing
Ibtihaj is also the first female Muslim-American athlete to earn a medal at the Olympics, winning bronze at Rio 2016.
Hui Ruoqi - faster, higher, stronger
Hui Ruoqi is a natural leader.
Captain of the Chinese volleyball team that won gold at Rio 2016, Hui retired in 2018 and now leads a number of social initiatives to empower girls and women through sport.
In April 2017, she established the Hui Ruoqi Women's Volleyball Development Fund, which helps promising athletes and outstanding coaches further the development of volleyball.
So who's next... Simone Biles? Serena? Yusra Mardini? Alina Zagitova? What about twin Barbies with Russian twins Dina and Arina Averina? The real problem for the next Barbie selectors will be deciding who to leave out.
