Czech snowboarder wins world championship

Czech snowboarder Eva Adamczyková (née Samková) has become the world champion in snowboard cross for a second time. 

She dominated the field in the 2023 Freestyle Ski and Snowboard World Championships in Bakuriani, Georgia, winning all four races.

The 29-year-old, who was world champion in 2019, was able to see off most-recent Olympic gold medalist Lindsey Jacobellis.

Remarkably, Adamczyková suffered a serious injury in December 2021, breaking both legs. This is her first major title since then.

She was one of the favorites going into the tournament, but she had not gotten ahead of herself. "It's definitely not good to count on winning it [the world championship] outright because so many favorites have fallen here,” she told journalists after her victory.

Adamczyková remained confident, however, saying "I knew I could do it and I wanted to win.” In the majority of races, she was in the lead, which, according to the snowboarder, gave her an advantage as it reduced the chance of any collisions. 

Adamczyková also won the gold medal in the 2014 Winter Olympics in snowboard cross and has won three World Cups (which are different from the World Championships). 

In this season’s World Cup, Adamczyková has not performed as well due to her recovery from injury and has a highest finish of fourth. 

The Czech will now turn her focus to the doubles race, which is due to be held this weekend.