Czechia off to strong Olympic start with gold for Maděrová and silver for Jílek

The Winter Olympics have only just begun, but Sunday already brought two major moments for Czech sport. Snowboarder Zuzana Maděrová won gold in the women’s parallel giant slalom. Just hours later, speed skater Metoděj Jílek added silver in the 5,000 metres, marking the biggest success so far for both athletes.

The first Czech medal of the day came from the slopes. On Sunday, Zuzana Maděrová, a native of the northern Bohemian city of Liberec, delivered the biggest victory of her career.

She had never won a World Cup race before. Her best results were two second-place finishes, and at her Olympic debut in Beijing four years ago she failed to make it past qualification. This time, everything came together, confirming her rise among the world’s elite.

Zuzana Maděrová|Photo: Profimedia

Already considered one of the co-favourites, Maděrová finished second in qualification behind the defending champion Ester Ledecká. In the knockout rounds, she defeated Germany’s Cheyenne Loch and Ramona Hofmeister, Italy’s Elisa Caffont, and then Austria’s Sabine Payer in the final, winning by a clear margin of eighty-three hundredths of a second.

At the finish line, she was welcomed by a cheering crowd, including Czech President Petr Pavel, who personally congratulated her. Speaking to Czech Radio after the race, Maděrová said the conditions played perfectly into her hands:

“From start to finish the course was perfectly prepared, the Italians did a great job. And I told myself that if the course is perfectly prepared and I’m perfectly prepared, then why not go for it one hundred percent? It’s now or never. I just sent it from the very first run, and it worked. I still can’t believe it, but it really happened, so I’ll have to get used to being called Zuzana Maděrová, Olympic champion.”

Zuzana Maděrová|Photo: Reuters

With that victory, Maděrová became only the third Czech Olympic champion in snowboarding, following Ester Ledecká and Eva Adamczyková, who won gold in snowboard cross at the 2014 Winter Games in Sochi under her maiden name, Samková.

Her long-time coach Evžen Mareš, who has worked with her since she was eight years old, says the signs were already there, even if Olympic gold was never the expectation:

“It was definitely not about winning the Olympics. But that she could fight her way into the semifinals, that’s something I had already predicted at a federation press conference back in November, and it came true. The results lately hadn’t been completely great. But the start of the season in China, Cortina, and Carezza showed that she can win qualification races when Ester isn’t there.”

Eva Samková|Photo: Czech Television

Maděrová’s triumph came at the expense of her teammate and role model Ester Ledecká, who had been aiming for a third consecutive Olympic gold in giant slalom. Despite dominating the morning qualification, Ledecká made a mistake in the quarterfinals and was eliminated by Austria’s Payer.

Just a few hours after Maděrová claimed gold, Czechia was celebrating again, this time at the speed skating oval.

In his Olympic debut, speed skater Metoděj Jílek won silver in the 5,000 metres. The nineteen-year-old finished second behind Norwegian world record holder Sander Eitrem, securing the biggest result of his career so far.

Metoděj Jílek|Photo: Michal Kamaryt, ČTK

While Eitrem had already broken the world record earlier this season in Inzell, becoming the first skater to go under six minutes over 5,000 metres, both men surpassed the Olympic record on Sunday.

Speaking after the race, Jílek was typically self-critical:

“I can’t say I’m completely happy, I was expecting a bit more. But I was racing against the best 5,000-metre skater in the world right now, so I can’t really see it as a disappointment either. I skated what I had, I didn’t let myself down, but I didn’t really surprise myself either, so my emotions are probably more neutral.”

Under the Olympic rings, Jílek followed in the footsteps of Martina Sáblíková, the seven-time Olympic medallist who has defined Czech speed skating for years. In Milan, the athlete coached by New Zealander Kalon Dobbin still has medal ambitions in the 10,000 and 1,500 metres and the mass start, and says the silver medal is already a source of motivation:

Metoděj Jílek|Photo: Andre Weening, ČTK / imago sportfotodienst

“It’s definitely motivation for the upcoming races. In the 10,000 metres, I’d like to improve on that placing, and we’ll see how it goes. There I’ll have a different main rival, which I think will be Davide Ghiotto. On his home track he’ll have the home crowd behind him, so it will be a very tough race.”

Jílek’s next race comes on Sunday the 15th, when he lines up for the 10,000 metres.