'Miracle on snow' Ledecka gets green light over goggles

Olympic officials hailed snowboarder Ester Ledecka's fairytale ski win as "immense" on Sunday and said they had no problem with her wearing goggles at her press conference. Ledecka's achievement was described as the "miracle on snow" by Czech media after the snowboard specialist won a stunning super-G gold medal on borrowed skis. The win by Ledecka, who ran 26th, was so unexpected that US broadcaster NBC had already announced Austria's Anna Veith as the winner. Afterwards, Ledecka, favourite in next week's snowboard parallel giant slalom, refused to take off her goggles at her press conference, initially saying they were her "brand". But the International Olympic Committee said they accepted her later explanation that she wanted to keep them on because she wasn't wearing make-up. "It doesn't breach the rule and she explained the reasons," said Olympic Games executive director Christophe Dubi, when asked if the goggles breached the Games' regulations on sponsorship. Dubi described Ledecka's win as "immense", while IOC spokesman Mark Adams said: "I think she's already queen of the Games."