Zuzana Maděrová secured the first medal for the Czech team, winning the parallel giant slalom. Favorite Ester Ledecká was surprisingly eliminated in the quarter-finals. Metoděj Jílek, a breakout star in speed skating this season, achieved a silver medal in the 5000-meter race, finishing only behind Norway’s Sander Eitrem. The Czech women’s hockey team recorded their first win of the Games, defeating Finland 2-0. Norway’s Johannes Hösflot Klaebo won the skiathlon, earning his sixth Olympic gold medal. American Breezy Johnson celebrated victory in the downhill, while her compatriot Lindsey Vonn did not finish the race after a fall. The mixed biathlon relay team finished eleventh in Anterselva, with France taking the gold.
Maděrová defeated Austrian snowboarder Sabine Payer in the final, earning the first medal for the Czech delegation at the ongoing Games. The athlete from Liberec achieved her first career victory in the most critical competition, having previously finished second twice in World Cup events.
Ester Ledecká unexpectedly faltered in the quarter-finals, narrowly losing to Payer and will not be bringing home another medal from Italy. This marks the first time Ledecká has not won a giant slalom since March 2023, when she finished second in Rogla.
Four years ago in Beijing, Maděrová was eliminated in qualifying. This time, she placed second in qualifying, establishing herself as one of the favorites.
In the elimination rounds, she successively defeated Germany’s Cheyenne Loch and Ramona Hofmeister, Italy’s Elisa Caffont, and ultimately Payer by a significant margin of 83 hundredths of a second.
Maděrová becomes the third Czech Olympic champion in snowboarding, joining Ledecká and Eva Adamczyková (formerly Samková), who won snowboardcross gold in Sochi 2014.
Thirty-year-old Ledecká, aiming for her third consecutive gold in giant slalom, topped the morning qualification, finishing both runs fastest and beating Maděrová by 69 hundredths of a second. In the eighth-finals, the Czech favorite eliminated Claudia Riegler of Austria by more than a second.
However, she stumbled around the sixth gate in the quarter-finals, losing ground and losing to Payer by just six hundredths of a second. She was unable to repeat her success from the 2018 and 2022 Games, where she won gold after topping qualification.
Czech representative Kryštof Minárik did not advance to the knockout rounds in the men’s event, finishing 30th in qualifying. Austria’s Benjamin Karl defended his gold medal, defeating Korea’s Kim Sang-kjom in the final. Bulgaria’s Tervel Zamfirov won the bronze.
Jílek Adds Second Medal
Nineteen-year-old Metoděj Jílek marked his Olympic debut with a valuable medal. He recorded the second-fastest time of 6:06.48 in the 5000-meter race. Norway’s Eitrem won in a new Olympic record of 6:03.95. Italy’s Riccardo Lorello took bronze, finishing nearly three seconds behind Jílek.
“I went into the race aiming for gold. Racing in a pair with Sander was tough, but we helped each other. Unfortunately, he was stronger, and I couldn’t compete with him,” said Jílek. He expressed some disappointment immediately after the race. “But with some perspective, I realized I had a great race and shouldn’t be disappointed, because Sander is four years older, has more experience, and is in incredible form right now,” he added.
Jílek’s performance continues a strong tradition for Czech speed skating, building on the seven Olympic medals won by Martina Sáblíková. The three-time Olympic champion last won a bronze medal in the 5km race at the 2022 Beijing Games. Jílek has medal ambitions in the 10km race and the mass start event in Milan, where he has already achieved victories in his first season on the World Cup circuit after transitioning from inline skating.
Jílek raced in the penultimate pair with Eitrem, whom he lost to in January in a pre-Games event, and again couldn’t match his pace. While in Inzell, Norway’s skater broke the world record and became the first to go under six minutes in the 5km, both athletes surpassed the Olympic record this time. The Norwegian favorite clocked 6:03.950, improving the previous maximum by almost five seconds. Jílek was slower by 2.53 seconds. In the final heat, which also included France’s Timothy Loubineaud, another of Jílek’s rivals this season, no one was able to beat their times.
Czech Women’s Hockey Team Secures First Win
The Czech women’s hockey team defeated Finland 2-0, earning their first victory in the third game of the Olympic Group A competition. Pištěková and Mlýnková scored the goals.
Biathletes Finish 11th in Mixed Relay
The Czech quartet of Vítězslav Hornig, Michal Krčmář, Tereza Voborníková, and Markéta Davidová improved on their 12th-place finish from Beijing, but were far from medal contention.
The race in Anterselva was won by France’s Éric Perrot, Quentin Fillon Maillet, Lou Jeanmonnot, and Julia Simon. Italy took silver, nearly 26 seconds behind, and Germany finished third.
Hornig, after two clean shooting stages, handed off to Krčmář in eighth place. The silver Olympic medalist in the sprint from Pyeongchang needed one extra shot and moved the Czech team up to fifth.
“I tried to go as fast as I could. Aside from that one shot, my shooting was great. I tried to close the gap on the third and fourth ahead of me. It was a bit of a solitary race. I was expecting it to be more competitive. We had a good start with Víťa,” said Krčmář.
Voborníková also delivered a clean shooting performance, maintaining fifth place. Davidová, who missed the Ruhpolding and Nové Město na Moravě World Cups in January due to back pain, needed two extra shots in the prone position but still held her position.
The 2021 world champion in the individual event, who underwent surgery for a herniated disc last spring, then lost ground on the course. After shooting standing, she had to take a penalty lap and dropped to ninth place. Two competitors overtook Davidová in the final stretch.
Záveská Fails to Advance from Big Air Qualifying
Nineteen-year-old freestyle snowboarder Laura Záveská finished 17th in qualifying for the big air event in her Olympic debut and did not advance to the final. Záveská was 9.25 points short of qualifying.
New Zealand favorite Zoi Sadowska-Synnott won qualifying in Livigno, having previously won silver in Beijing and bronze in Pyeongchang. Austria’s Anna Gasser, another medal contender, finished ninth in qualifying.
Johnson Wins Downhill, Vonn Suffers Fall
American Breezy Johnson won the women’s downhill, beating Germany’s Emma Aicher by four hundredths of a second. Italy’s Sofia Goggia, the home favorite, took bronze, nearly six tenths of a second behind the winner. American Lindsey Vonn suffered a serious fall and was airlifted off the Tofana slope. She is currently in intensive care at the hospital in Cortina and is reported to have a broken leg.
Reigning world champion Johnson delivered a risky run. She made a few mistakes in the upper section of the famous course but was clearly the fastest in the second half. Of the three Czech competitors, Barbora Nováková finished highest in 25th place. Alena Labaštová was 29th, and Elisa Negriová 31st.
Favorite Goggia had a poor second sector and couldn’t close the gap on Johnson and Aicher for the remainder of the course. However, the bronze medal completed her collection of Olympic medals. She won gold in Pyeongchang, silver in Beijing, and now bronze in Cortina.
Klaebo Wins First Distance Gold
Michal Novák was ninth after the classic portion of the race, with a small deficit to the leading group, which included all four Norwegians led by Johannes Klaebo. The skating portion proved more tricky for the Czech skier, and he gradually fell back to 19th place overall.
Klaebo controlled the race, but even he had to be careful in the demanding race with several steep climbs around the stadium in Tesero. The Norwegian favorite managed the situation, fended off the attacking Frenchman Hugo Lapalus, benefited from excellent skis, and pulled away from his rivals in the last small climb before the finish. What we have is Klaebo’s first gold in a distance event.
France’s Mathis Desloges sprinted to silver, receiving a yellow card for shortening the course, but the jury did not impose further penalties. Norway’s Martin Löwström Nyenget took bronze, just ten hundredths of a second behind.
“I apologize. But it wasn’t intentional, I didn’t want to gain any advantage. And I don’t think it had a big impact on the result,” said Desloges, who was already in the lead before shortening the course. He did not complain about the jury’s decision, and Löwström Nyenget agreed, saying, “I don’t think he gained any significant advantage. So everything is okay.”
Curling Duo Defeats Norway, Falls to Italy
Julie Zelingrová and Vít Chabičovský won their first match of the day, defeating an experienced Norwegian team 6-3 and earning their second victory in the tournament. Zelingrová demonstrated sportsmanship during the match, acknowledging slight contact with one of the stones.
The afternoon match against Italy was less successful. The Czech team struggled and lost 2-8, losing their chance to advance to the playoffs.
“That result doesn’t reflect how we played. I threw some good stones that just missed. We played well, but they played unbelievably,” Zelingrová said in an interview with Czech Television. “The ice was such that it didn’t curl much, which isn’t terrible. But for a team that’s losing and has to play some difficult shifts, it wasn’t realistic to reach back and gain a big point advantage. And they didn’t create any mistakes,” Chabičovský added.
Malinin Leads Americans to Defend Team Event Gold
The United States won gold in the figure skating team event, successfully defending their title in a dramatic final, one point ahead of Japan. The three-day competition was decided by the final duel between Iliia Malinin and Shun Sato in the men’s free skate, which the two-time world champion from the USA handled better. Italy took the bronze medal.
The Americans led by five points after the second day, but Japan put pressure on the defending champions.
Japan closed the gap on the USA in the first competition of the final, the pairs event, with a great performance from Riku Miura and Ryuichi Kihara. The pair earned a career-high 155.55 points. The American pair of Ellie Kam and Danny O’Shea finished fourth in the five-member final.
Kaori Sakamoto then won the women’s free skate, while American Amber Glenn finished third.
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The Czech women’s hockey team defeated Finland 2-0 and secured their first win of the Olympic tournament in the third game of Group A. Pištěková and Mlýnková scored the goals.
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The United States won gold in the figure skating team event at the Olympics. They successfully defended their title in a dramatic final, narrowly beating Japan, with Italy taking bronze.
