Benjamin Karl, 38, became the first man to collect three Olympic snowboarding medals, defending his parallel giant-slalom title Saturday on a day of upsets at the Mottolino course in Livigno.
Austrian Veteran Makes History With Third Medal
Karl beat Korea’s Kim Sang-kyum by 0.19 seconds in the Big Final, adding Milano-Cortina 2026 gold to the silver he won at Vancouver 2010 and the bronze from Sochi 2014. Seeded third after qualification, he survived a 0.03-second scare against Italy’s Maurizio Bormolini in the round-of-16, then eliminated teammate Andreas Prommegger by 0.12 in the quarter-finals and Beijing 2022 runner-up Tim Mastnak by 0.24 in the semis.
Bulgaria Snares First Snowboard Medal
The bronze match needed a photo finish. Bulgaria’s Tervel Zamfirov, 29, and Mastnak clocked identical times to the hundredth; high-speed frames showed Zamfirov’s left boot slightly ahead, giving Bulgaria its first Olympic snowboard medal and denying Slovenia a second straight men’s PGS silver.
Czech Rookie Steps In as Ledecka Falls
Ester Ledecka’s attempt at a third consecutive Olympic title ended in the quarter-finals when she trailed Austria’s Sabine Payer by 0.06 after clipping an early gate. The exit cleared the path for 24-year-old Zuzana Maderova, who had never won a World Cup race. Seeded second, Maderova beat Germany’s Cheyenne Loch by 0.36, advanced when Ramona Hofmeister crashed, and beat Italy’s Elisa Caffont by 0.45 in the semi-final.
Maderova Cruises to Maiden Gold
In the women’s Big Final, Maderova burst from the start and, despite a mid-course wobble, finished 0.83 seconds ahead of Payer—an eternity in parallel racing. Italy’s Lucia Dalmasso took bronze, edging teammate Caffont by 0.11 in the small final as the home crowd roared. Maderova’s prior best on the World Cup circuit had been two third-place finishes this season.
Karl: ‘No Pressure, Just Snowboard’
“I already owned every color, so pressure stayed outside my bubble,” Karl told reporters before draping himself in the Austrian flag and peeling off his race suit in salute to downhill great Hermann Maier. Coaches said Karl spent race morning listening to classic rock on oversized headphones instead of studying split times—routine, he says, that kept nerves low while temperatures dipped to –14 °C and hard-pack punished the smallest skid.
Useful Resources
- FIS Snowboard Hub – Live timing sheets, athlete bios and World Cup standings for parallel events
- Snowboard Austria – Technique videos and training-camp calendar used by Karl and teammates
- “Race Like a Pro” course analysis – Free breakdown of Livigno’s Mottolino slope angles and gate spacing
- Olympic Channel Replay Library – Full Milano-Cortina 2026 parallel finals available on demand
- World Snowboard Tour – Global competition pathway explaining how riders qualify for future Olympics
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