Ester Ledecká
| Medal record | ||
|---|---|---|
Representing  Czech Republic
| ||
| Women's Snowboarding | ||
| World Championships | ||
 |
2015 Kreischberg | Parallel slalom |
| World Cup | ||
|
2013–14 | Parallel Giant Slalom |
Ester Ledecká (Czech pronunciation: [ˈɛstɛr ˈlɛdɛtskaː], born 23 March 1995) is a Czech snowboarder. She is the first Czech to win the Parallel Giant Slalom in snowboarding at the FIS Snowboard World Cup.
Biography
Ledecká was born in Prague, to mother Zuzana and father Janek, a well-known singer in the Czech Republic.[1][2] She comes from a family of sporting background; her grandfather is two-time Olympic medallist Jan Klapáč.[2] As of 2014[update], she is still at high school, attending a distance-learning programme in Prague.[3] Her hobbies include playing the guitar and singing.[4]
Career
She competed in her first World Cup tournament in 2012–13 competition, finishing in 13th place in the Parallel Giant Slalom event.[1]
In March 2013 at the age of 17, Ledecká won gold in the Parallel Slalom event at the Junior World Championships, her second gold of the competition.[5]
She was named "Junior Sportsperson of the year" at the Czech Republic's 2013 Sportsperson of the Year awards.[6]
During the 2013–14 FIS Snowboard World Cup, she placed second behind Patrizia Kummer in the first Parallel Slalom event in Bad Gastein and third in the second event. She subsequently won gold at Rogla in the Parallel Giant Slalom event at the same competition, becoming the first Czech to do so.[7] In doing so, she also became just the third Czech to win any World Cup snowboarding event.[8]
Ahead of the 2014 Winter Olympics, The Daily Telegraph's Andrew Lawton mentioned Ledecká as the "one to watch" in the women's snowboarding competition.[7] She was among the Czech athletes most expected to win a medal at the games, along with Martina Sáblíková, Gabriela Soukalová and fellow snowboarder Eva Samková.[9] After Ledecka had finished ninth in qualifying for the Alpine skiing event at the Winter Olympics, the Czech Ski Association attempted to register her as a competitor, however the FIS rejected the proposal, reiterating that only eight Czechs could compete.[4][10]
Ledecká made her Olympic debut on 19 February 2014 in the Parallel Giant Slalom snowboarding event. She reached the quarter final stage before being eliminated by Patrizia Kummer, who went on to win the goal medal in the event. Ledecká was classified as seventh overall.[11]
See also
Notes and references
- ^ a b "Dcera Janka Ledeckého debutovala ve Světovém poháru ve snowboardingu 13. místem". Hospodářské noviny (in Czech). 21 December 2012. Retrieved 7 February 2014.
- ^ a b Grim, Filip (3 February 2014). "Od sněhuláků přes zapomenuté lyže. Jak Ledecká startovala kariéru". Mladá fronta DNES (in Czech). Retrieved 7 February 2014.
- ^ Jakoubek, Jiří (18 January 2014). "Za odměnu mám vafle, smála se po prvním triumfu v SP Ledecká". Mladá fronta DNES (in Czech). Retrieved 7 February 2014.
- ^ a b David, Jan (7 February 2014). "Na noc si dávám zmrzlinu, ale vždycky! směje se Ledecká". Metro Praha (in Czech). Prague: MAFRA. p. 16.
- ^ "Ledecka and Baumeister win Parallel Slalom at Junior World Champs". FIS. 7 March 2013. Retrieved 7 February 2014.
- ^ Beránek, Jaroslav; Kučerová, Martina (18 December 2013). "Neporazitelná běžkyně Hejnová vyhrála i souboj o titul Sportovec roku". Mladá fronta DNES (in Czech). Retrieved 7 February 2014.
- ^ a b Lawton, Andrew (5 February 2014). "Winter Olympics 2014: Blagger's guide to snowboarding". The Telegraph. Retrieved 7 February 2014.
- ^ "Career's first for Ledecka and Mathies in Rogla PGS | First Czech win on Alpine Snowboard World Cup tour | Exciting race for Crystal Globes". rogla.eu. Archived from the original on 7 February 2014. Retrieved 7 February 2014.
- ^ "Czech Republic names 85 athletes to Sochi Olympic team". AP. Sports Illustrated. 16 January 2014. Retrieved 7 February 2014.
- ^ Augustin, Marek (1 February 2014). "Ledecká bude v Soči závodit jen na snowboardu, start v lyžování neprošel". Czech Radio (in Czech). Retrieved 7 February 2014.
- ^ Grim, Filip (19 February 2014). "Desítka, jak jsem plánovala, chválila se Ledecká po olympijském debutu". Mladá fronta DNES (in Czech). Retrieved 19 February 2014.