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Ledecka completes historic double, adds snowboard gold to skiing super-G

LOIC VENANCE / AFP / Getty

Bo Jackson. Deion Sanders. Ester Ledecka?

The Czech athlete staked her claim to dual-sport stardom at the Winter Olympics on Saturday by completing an absolutely stunning double, adding a gold medal in snowboard parallel giant slalom to the gold she'd already won in skiing super-G at PyeongChang 2018.

While her semifinal win in the snowboarding event guaranteed she'd become the first person to medal in both sports at the Olympics, her dominant performance in the final ensured those medals would match.

The result of Saturday's competition, though remarkable, was the less surprising one for the Czech superstar. Ledecka was the top-ranked snowboarder in the field and leads the World Cup standings for the season.

The gold she earned on skis, however, was arguably the most shocking win in recent Olympic history. Ledecka entered the super-G ranked 43rd in the world. She was featured in the second half of the draw for the event, long after the medal favorites had finished. American broadcaster NBC was so confident that Ledecka didn't have a chance at gold, it switched its live television programming to a different event before the second set of competitors took the course.

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