Zuzana Maderova Wins Women's Snowboarding PGS Gold Medal at Olympics 2026

Zuzana Maděrová continued Czech Republic's dominance in the women's snowboarding parallel giant slalom at the Olympics with a victory in the big final on Sunday.

Maděrová finished her final run in 45.97 seconds, beating out Austria's Sabine Payer by .83 seconds.

The small final featuring the Italian duo of Lucia Dalmasso and Elisa Caffont went in Dalmasso's favor to win the bronze for her first career Olympic medal.

Women's Parallel Giant Slalom Results

Big Final: Zuzana Maděrová (45.97 seconds) def. Sabine Payer (46.80 seconds)

Small Final: Lucia Dalmasso (46.43 seconds) def. Elisa Caffont (46.55 seconds)

Maděrová's win is one of the early shockers from the 2026 Winter Olympics. The 22-year-old has been ascending since her first appearance at the Games in 2022, when she finished 23rd out of 31 competitors.

Since that appearance in Beijing, Maděrová has gone on to win two bronze medals in the parallel slalom and parallel team event at the 2023 Junior World Championships.

However, her fellow countrywoman Ester Ledecká entered the day favored to win gold. She previously won this event in 2018 and 2022, as well as at the 2025 World Championships.

Ledecká's time of 1:30.89 in the qualification run was the best of anyone in the field, but her quest for a threepeat came to an end in the quarterfinal when she had a miscue early on and finished .06 seconds behind Payer.

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Maděrová, who posted the second-fastest qualifying time, took advantage of the opportunity. She dominated the semifinal, beating Caffont by .45 seconds to reach the final.

The final was the crowning achievement for Maděrová, whose margin of victory of .83 seconds was the best in the parallel giant slalom by final in which both competitors finished since 2006 when Amelie Kobe won by 15.97 seconds.