Sawt Falasteen - Sequins and snow: Eva Adamczykova makes Olympic return

The Sochi 2014 women's snowboard cross champion, who races wearing a drawn-on moustache as a good-luck charm, reached the final of celebrity ballroom dancing show StarDance on Czech TV in 2023.

"It was a dream of mine," she said. "I was 30 years old and it was something I just had to do for myself. It was a great opportunity.

"It brings you a different kind of fan from the start. They may not be watching sports, but I think I got around 50,000 more followers on Instagram."

Adamczykova and her professional dance partner were so successful on StarDance that her stay on the show extended into the start of the 2023/24 snowboard cross season.

"We made it to the final and I was loving it, but I was also glad when it was over because I was so done and tired," she said.

"I was definitely skinnier after, because you're dancing for 10 hours at a time. You feel your body in a different way, and I think this can help you in snowboard.

"Normally your feet are strapped together, and that was the hardest part. I was always saying, 'I have bad ankles, I cannot be on high heels'."

The injury-plagued Adamczykova fractured both ankles during a World Cup race in December 2021, ruling her out of the Beijing 2022 Olympics.

"I never thought after the injuries about not trying to get back," she said. "I just love the sport and having fun, (but) the ankle injury was the toughest."

Now 32, she is back for a third Games appearance and is looking to add to the gold she won at Sochi and her bronze at Pyeongchang 2018, both under her pre-married name of Eva Samkova.

"I definitely feel fitter and stronger than in Sochi, that was a different time," she said.

"I was just beginning to muscle up, and the level of the girls' riding has totally changed. It's tougher, tighter racing. I'm not winning the qualifiers by one second any more."

The women's snowboard cross competition at the Milan-Cortina Games starts in Livigno on February 13.

A.Suleiman--SF-PST