Parallel Giant Slalom stars building legacy and longevity in Livigno

Livigno Snow Park will be about legacy and longevity when Parallel Giant Slalom takes center stage at the Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026 today.

Ester Ledecka (CZE), the only woman to win gold in two different sports at the same Games, can cement her legendary status by becoming the first snowboarder to win three straight Olympic titles.

On a day when Alpine Skiing’s Downhill event also takes place at a venue several hours away, Ledecka will choose instead to chase the three-peat Parallel Giant Slalom. Should her bid for the PGS win be successful on Sunday, Ledecka can then look to repeat her historic Pyeongchang 2018 performance by going for gold in Alpine Skiing’s Super G event on 12 February.

Giant challenges

However, Ledecka can expect challenges from competitors such as current PGS World Cup leader Tsubaki Miki (JPN), as well as a formidable Italian women’s team led by Engadin 2025 World Championships Parallel Team gold medalist Elisa Caffont and Lucia Dalmasso (ITA), winner of the Mylin (CHN) World Cup back in December of this season.

Miki, the Bakuriani 2023 PGS World Champion, pushed Ledecka to her limit in last season’s World Championships PGS race in Switzerland but ultimately had to settle for the silver medal, before besting Ledecka in the Parallel Slalom event to take gold. 

Compatriot Tomoka Takeuchi (JPN), who made a PGS World Cup podium in Scuol last year, will make another run at it 12 years after claiming silver at Sochi 2014. The 42-year-old is at her sixth Games, while Claudia Riegler (AUT) will be the oldest snowboarder to compete at the Olympics at 52 - rewriting her own record of 44 years old from Pyeongchang 2018. While Riegler did not compete at Beijing 2022, Milano Cortina 2026 will be her fifth Olympic appearance.

Home podium sweep?

Reigning World Champion Roland Fischnaller (ITA), 45, is at his seventh Games, and comes into his home Games on a high as the top-ranked rider on the 2025/26 PGS World Cup rankings. Fischnaller will lead an exceptionally strong Italian team that boasts four riders in the top six of the PGS World Cup rankings, including Engadin 2025 World Championships bronze medalist Aaron March (ITA), Engadin 2025 Parallel Team gold medalist Maurizio Bormolini (ITA), and Mirko Felicetti (ITA), winner of this season’s Mylin PGS World Cup. 

A sweep of the Milano Cortina 2026 PGS podium for the Italian squad is a real and thrilling possibility for the host nation.

Defending Olympic gold medalist Benjamin Karl (AUT), currently second overall behind Fischnaller on the World Cup rankings, is riding into his fifth and final Games after confirming that he will retire at the end of the 2025/26 season.

A medal for the 40-year-old would make him the most bemedaled snowboarder in Olympic history, adding to his full set that includes Beijing 2022 gold, Vancouver 2010 silver, and Sochi 2014 bronze (in parallel slalom).

Women’s PGS qualification starts at 9:00 CET at the Livigno Snow Park, with men’s qualification beginning half an hour later. The 1/8 finals then get underway from 13:00, culminating with the women’s finals at 14:26 and the men’s finals at 14:36.

Another three-peat opportunity

Snowboard action will resume at the Livigno Snow Park at 19:30 with Women’s Big Air qualification, where there is another rider chasing a three-peat opportunity, as two-time defending champion Anna Gasser (AUT) looks to be one of the headliners of the 30-strong field fighting for 12 places in Monday’s final.

Zoi Sadowski-Synnott (NZL) will be looking to put herself in position to win her first Big Air Olympic gold after 2018 bronze and 2022 silver.

Mia Brookes (GBR), the Big Air Crystal Globe winner the last two seasons, is seeking her NOC's first Olympic title in snowboard after Great Britain failed to pick up a medal on snow at Beijing 2022.

Japan swept the podium at the 2025 World Championships through the trio of Kokomo Murase, Reira Iwabuchi and Mari Fukada (JPN), who will also be ones to watch.