Ester LEDECKA

Historical Results

Results - Snowboard

Results - Alpine Skiing

Guitar, singing, beach volleyball, fitness and windsurfing.

Athlete

Father, Janek Ledecky (Singer and recording artist). Mother, Zuzana Ledecka (Coach). Brother, Jonas Ledecky (Graphic novel illustrator).

Czech, English

Dukla Liberec

SNOWBOARD
Personal: Justin Reiter (USA)

ALPINE
Team: Tomas Bank (CZE), Franz Gamper (ITA)

OVERALL
Personal: Zuzana Ledecka (CZE)

Mother Zuzana Ledecka (Figure skating): Former figure skater, now head coach of their own team, the ALL STR TEAM, and responsible for Ester's preparation for training sessions and races. (ester-ledecka.cz)

Brother Jonas Ledecka (Snowboarding): Competed on the national junior snowboard team before quitting to pursue a career in visual arts and music.

Grandfather Jan Klapac (Ice Hockey): Former forward on the national team, 1972 world champion and winner of two Olympic medals (1964 bronze, 1968 silver).

SNOWBOARD
2010 European Cup in Hochfugen (Parallel Giant Slalom - 12th)
2012 World Cup in Carezza (Parallel Giant Slalom - 13th)

ALPINE
2010 FIS event in Spindleruv Mlyn - Stoh (Slalom - 5th)
2016 World Cup in Garmisch-Partenkirchen (Downhill - 24th)

March 2021: An unspecified injury caused her to pull out of the snowboard World Championships in Rogla. "I was getting ready for the races and looking forward, but I can't even complete my stretching, let alone carry the snowboard over my head single-handed." (barrons.com, 1 Mar 2021)

January 2021: Cut her lip as a result of a crash in a World Cup downhill in Crans Montana. She raced again the next day.

2010

Started skiing at four, and at five decided to pick up snowboarding following her older brother. (FIS Snowboard YouTube, 13 Dec 2020)

“I started with skis when I was two or three years old. I was following what my brother did. He is one and a half years older than me and so when he started with a board, I wanted to do it too. I was five years old when I started with snowboarding and I did freestyle snowboarding and boardercross until I was about 13 years old. And again it was my brother who started with Alpine snowboarding and I wanted to beat him, so I learned that too. To be honest my first steps on a snowboard and also then later on an Alpine board were really difficult for me and I didn’t like it in the beginning. But as I said I was very competitive and I wanted to get better at these sports. I believed that once I got into it I would love it – and I was right.” (iceatrail.com, 27 Jul 2019)

She loves snowboarding and Alpine skiing equally, and can't decide between the two. (FIS Snowboard YouTube, 13 Dec 2020)

To better prepare for icy slopes, she plans to train on ice with Czech hockey and National Hockey League player Jaromir Jagr. (AFP, 27 Mar 2021)

Her brother, Jonas, who designed her superhero-style identity on her racing suit and snowboard art. "We developed this kind of secret identity. He made a suit for me as well as my helmet and everything. When I’m standing at the start I feel like a superhero, it’s really helping. It’s cool to have someone who is so close to me and he’s creating such great stuff which I can use in my real job in life and it’s really special." (FIS Snowboard YouTube, 13 Dec 2020)

"There are still a lot of goals in front of me and I still feel that, after all these years, I have the flame burning inside of me. I’m still enjoying my life the way it is, even through all this hard work the life of the professional athlete brings.” (iceatrail.com, 24 Jul 2019)

Sportsperson of the Year in Czech Republic (2018).

Best Athlete of the Decade in Czech Republic (2008-2018).

Honorary citizen of Prague, holder of the ceremonial key to the city of Prague and holder of the Czech Medal of Merit awarded by the president of the Czech Republic.