Ledecka seals double, Norway on top

Pyeongchang, February 24

Ester Ledecka made history with an unprecedented snowboard and skiing double, while Norway’s all-conquering team set a new record for medals at a Winter Olympics. 

As US president Donald Trump’s daughter Ivanka descended on the Games in Pyeongchang, world champion Ledecka reigned supreme with a confident victory in the women’s parallel giant slalom. It came after last week’s shock super-G win for Ledecka, daughter of a Czech rock star, who has stunned ski purists and confounded logic by taking gold in two very different events. 

With Saturday’s win, Ledecka joins Thorleif Haug and Johan Groettumsbraten as the only athletes to achieve a multi-sport double at the Winter Games. Both Norwegians won in cross-country and Nordic combined. 

As Ledecka rewrote the rules, Norway took bronze in the inaugural alpine skiing team event to reach 38 medals, breaking the record of 37 set by the United States in 2010. Norway, led by their peerless cross-country skiers, have enjoyed a barnstorming Olympics. One day before the closing ceremony, they top the table with Germany on 13 golds, but with a vastly superior overall medals total. The International Olympic Committee’s executive board held lengthy talks but failed to decide whether to lift the suspension of Russia, two of whose athletes have failed drug tests during the Games. 

The latest offender, women’s bobsledder Nadezhda Sergeyeva, has been kicked out after failing a test for a banned heart drug, the Court of Arbitration for Sport said. In alpine skiing, Wendy Holdener led Switzerland to victory in the new team event, with Austria taking silver. — AFP