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Olympics: Snowboarding – Ledecka creates history with PGS gold – Metro US

Olympics: Snowboarding – Ledecka creates history with PGS gold

By Jack Tarrant

PYEONGCHANG, South Korea (Reuters) – Ester Ledecka became the first person in Winter Olympic history to win gold medals in both skiing and snowboarding after winning the snowboard parallel giant slalom on Saturday to go with her Alpine skiing super-G gold.

The Czech is only the fifth person to win gold in two different events at the Winter Olympics.

Ledecka defeated Germany’s Selina Joerg in the final by 0.46 seconds to claim the gold.

Germany’s Theresia Ramona Hofmeister won the bronze medal race against Sochi bronze medalist Alena Zavarzina to complete the podium.

Zavarzina fell in both the semi-final and small final to open the door for the Germans.

Ledecka dominated from the outset, setting the fastest time in qualifying and handling the pressure to win a historic double gold in Pyeongchang.

The two-time world champion’s achievement is the first athlete to win golds in two unrelated disciplines.

The four others to win two different events competed in similar Nordic events.

(Reporting by Jack Tarrant, editing by Mitch Phillips/Greg Stutchbury)