Ester Ledecká carved into Olympic history on 24 February 2018, winning parallel giant slalom gold to become the first athlete to claim gold medals in two different sports at a single Winter Games.
Seven days earlier, the Czech had won the super-G on borrowed skis by one hundredth of a second. That was a shock. This gold, in her primary discipline of snowboarding, confirmed her dominance.
A final decided from the first gate
Thirty-one athletes qualified at Phoenix Snow Park, with the reigning world champion entering as the clear favourite. In the big final she faced Germany's Selina Joerg. Ledecká seized a lead of 0.15 seconds at the first time control.
Joerg tried to close on the lower section, but the gap only grew. By the second split the margin had widened to almost three-tenths of a second. Ledecká held her line cleanly through the final gates and extended her lead across the finish.
A mark untouched for 90 years
The victory made her only the third athlete ever—and the first woman—to win gold in two different sports at the same Winter Games, a feat untouched for 90 years. She also joined France's Isabelle Blanc as only the second woman to hold the Olympic and world titles simultaneously.
"She is quite young and she can do both sports in the next years," Joerg told reporters afterwards. "I think the world is looking to Ester now."
A super-G surprise had ended with a parallel giant slalom procession, and the records were only beginning to pile up.
