Ledecka hopes downhill bronze paves the way for her next ‘big show on snow’

Ester Ledecka likes to put on “a big show on snow,” no matter if it’s on her skis or on a snowboard.

In her latest performance on Saturday, the versatile Czech athlete earned her fourth career world championship medal – but the first on skis.

After two golds and a silver from parallel (giant) slalom events at the snowboarding worlds in 2015 and 2017, Ledecka finished third in the downhill at the Alpine worlds in Saalbach-Hinterglemm, Austria. She was 0.21 seconds behind American winner Breezy Johnson.

“Now the collection is complete with bronze,” Ledecka said.

It was, of course, not her first medal from a major Alpine event.

Ledecka famously won Olympic gold in both skiing's super-G and snowboarding's parallel GS at the 2018 Pyeongchang Games, and added another gold on her board in 2022 in Beijing.

A scheduling issue at the 2026 Milan-Cortina Olympics — where the parallel GS in snowboarding and the Alpine downhill are both set for Feb. 8 next year at venues hours apart — might deny her a chance to replicate that stunning achievement from 2018.

Through the Czech Olympic Committee, Ledecka has been lobbying for a switch of events.

“It’s my biggest dream, and I really believe I belong to the best in the world in both sports and I wish I had the chance to prove it also on the Olympic Games,” said Ledecka, who turns 30 next month and is also a prolific windsurfer.

"I would really be very honored and happy if I could put on this unique show and be able to race on skis and the snowboard as well (at the Olympics).”

Ledecka had to deal with similar scheduling worries before.

One year after she won Olympic gold in both disciplines, the 2019 worlds in Alpine skiing in Sweden overlapped the championships in snowboarding in Utah and forced her to pick one over the other.

Back then, skiing won.

Ledecka, who has won four World Cup races in skiing and 25 in snowboarding, doesn't want to choose again. She believes Saturday's bronze medal proves her right.

“Today you could see, I am there, I can make a big show on snow,” she said.

Ledecka was the fastest starter and led Johnson by more than half a second at the second split. She slowed after landing awkwardly from a 36-meter jump halfway down the course.

She was still six-hundredths ahead of the American at the final checkpoint but couldn't keep her advantage through the finish.

Her medal run came after she felt “a little bit sick” the past days.

“My voice is still a little bit different,” said Ledecka, who sat out the last World Cup race in Germany with a back problem two weeks ago, but returned to competition by placing seventh in Thursday's super-G.

Next up?

“I need to work on my snowboard skills as well right now,” said Ledecka, hinting at the worlds in that sport in Switzerland in March.

“Now I am skiing, tomorrow I am again snowboarder.”

AP skiing: https://apnews.com/hub/alpine-skiing

Eric Willemsen on X: https://x.com/eWilmedia

United States' Breezy Johnson, center, winner of a gold medal in a women's downhill race, celebrates on the podium with silver medalist Austria's Mirjam Puchner, left, and bronze medalist Czech Republic's Ester Ledecka, at the Alpine Ski World Championships, in Saalbach-Hinterglemm, Austria, Saturday, Feb. 8, 2025. (AP Photo/Giovanni Auletta)

Czech Republic's Ester Ledecka smiles after winning the bronze medal in a women's downhill race, at the Alpine Ski World Championships, in Saalbach-Hinterglemm, Austria, Saturday, Feb. 8, 2025. (AP Photo/Giovanni Auletta)

Czech Republic's Ester Ledecka celebrates at the finish area of a women's downhill race, at the Alpine Ski World Championships, in Saalbach-Hinterglemm, Austria, Saturday, Feb. 8, 2025. (AP Photo/Giovanni Auletta)

Czech Republic's Ester Ledecka speeds down the course during a women's downhill race, at the Alpine Ski World Championships, in Saalbach-Hinterglemm, Austria, Saturday, Feb. 8, 2025. (AP Photo/Marco Trovati)

Czech Republic's Ester Ledecka, center, celebrates with the team after winning the bronze medal in a women's downhill race, at the Alpine Ski World Championships, in Saalbach-Hinterglemm, Austria, Saturday, Feb. 8, 2025. (AP Photo/Giovanni Auletta)

Czech Republic's Ester Ledecka celebrates on the podium after winning the bronze medal in a women's downhill race, at the Alpine Ski World Championships, in Saalbach-Hinterglemm, Austria, Saturday, Feb. 8, 2025. (AP Photo/Giovanni Auletta)

Czech Republic's Ester Ledecka is airborne during a women's downhill race, at the Alpine Ski World Championships, in Saalbach-Hinterglemm, Austria, Saturday, Feb. 8, 2025. (AP Photo/Gabriele Facciotti)

BOSTON (AP) — A federal judge has halted efforts by the Trump administration to collect data that proves higher education institutions aren’t considering race in admissions.

The ruling from U.S. District Court Judge F. Dennis Saylor IV in Boston on Friday granting the preliminary injunction follows a lawsuit filed earlier this month by a coalition of 17 Democratic state attorneys general. It will only apply to public universities in plaintiffs

The federal judge said the federal government likely has the authority to collect the data, but the demand was rolled out to universities in a “rushed and chaotic” manner.

“The 120-day deadline imposed by the President led directly to the failure of NCES (National Center for Education Statistics) to engage meaningfully with the institutions during the notice-and-comment process to address the multitude of problems presented by the new requirements,” Saylor wrote.

President Donald Trump ordered the data collection in August after he raised concerns that colleges and universities were using personal statements and other proxies to consider race, which he views as illegal discrimination.

In 2023, the Supreme Court ruled against the use of affirmative action in admissions but said colleges could still consider how race has shaped students’ lives if applicants share that information in their admissions essays.

The states argue the data collection risks invading student privacy and leading to baseless investigations of colleges and universities. They also argued that universities have not been given enough time to collect the data.

“The data has been sought in such a hasty and irresponsible way that it will create problems for universities,” a lawyer for the plaintiffs, Michelle Pascucci, told the court, adding that the effort seem was aimed at uncovering unlawful practices.

The Education Department has defended the effort, arguing taxpayers deserve transparency on how money is spent at institutions that receive federal funding.

The administration's policy echoes settlement agreements the government negotiated with Brown University and Columbia University, restoring their federal research money. The universities agreed to give the government data on the race, grade-point average and standardized test scores of applicants, admitted students and enrolled students. The schools also agreed to be audited by the government and to release admissions statistics to the public.

The National Center for Education Statistics is to collect the new data, including the race and sex of colleges’ applicants, admitted students and enrolled students. Education Secretary Linda McMahon has said the data, which was originally due by March 18, must be disaggregated by race and sex and retroactively reported for the past seven years.

If colleges fail to submit timely, complete and accurate data, the administration has said McMahon can take action under Title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965, which outlines requirements for colleges receiving federal financial aid for students.

The Trump administration separately has sued Harvard University over similar data, saying it refused to provide admissions records the Justice Department demanded to ensure the school stopped using affirmative action. Harvard has said the university has been responding to the government’s requests and is in compliance with the high court ruling against affirmative action. On Monday, the Education Department's Office for Civil Rights directed Harvard to comply with the data requests within 20 days for face referral to the U.S. Justice Department.

President Donald Trump arrives to speak about the Iran war from the Cross Hall of the White House on Wednesday, April 1, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, Pool)