At the age of fourteen, while watching Ledecka’s golden ride in Pyeongchang, she declared at home that this was the last Olympics without her. And last year in Beijing, she was really at the start. She gained experience and sold it in full the next winter.
“Before the season, I dreamed that I would have a few peeks into the elite sixteen,” she admitted. In the end, she even went to the quarter-finals twice for the top eight and was the youngest member of the elite twenty overall.
She finished nineteenth, right behind Ledecká. The great return of the three-time Olympic champion did not surprise her in any way. “Most expected it to be business as usual. She always drove the fastest, and her legs never lose their technique or rut. Perhaps she could have lost only in the physical, but if she wasn’t ready, she wouldn’t compete,” says Maděrová, the first Czech junior medalist since Ledecka.
Maderová is growing every year under the guidance of coach Evžen Mareš. And experience is important between the goals. “Each year is known for its skill and technique. For example, this year I fell several times in the elimination races because I drove on the edge of possibilities. And the more often you ride it, the more you can move it,” explains the Liberec snowboarder.
It continues to gain strength. “You have to stay on the thin edge and be able to take it. The bottom of the body is the most important, but its center holds everything together, you need your back for your stomach, and your hands for the starts, where you can also get tenths,” Maděrová calculates the key parts.
And psychology is no less important, which is why he has been working with the sought-after mental coach Marian Jelínek for several years. “I contacted him through my mom, because I already had a decent technique, but I couldn’t handle races in my head. And it has an effect, sometimes I call him a few minutes before the start and he gives me advice,” he boasts.
But now she spends most of her time in books, she will be graduating in a month. What then? “I’ll be a full snowboarder for a while and see how I do. Alternatively, I would start studying again after the Olympics,” she looks forward to the Winter Games in Italy in three years.