Canadian skier Laurence St-Germain is not used to winning big races, or even getting to the podium for that matter.
That is why she had no idea what to do while leading the slalom at the FIS Alpine World Ski Championships on Saturday, with only Mikaela Shiffrin still to come down.
“Honestly, I haven’t really looked at her run. I just was getting ready, it was my first podium and I didn’t really know where to go and what to do,” St-Germain said.
Photo: AFP
She maybe did not see it, but she soon had it confirmed: Shiffrin could not hold her first-run lead and finished 0.57 seconds behind St-Germain to end up with the silver medal.
Lena Duerr of Germany finished 0.69 behind for bronze.
Taiwan’s Lee Wen-yi finished 63rd, after she was unable to qualify for a second run.
Photo: AFP
“You dream of it, you want it, and in training I knew I could do well, but I did not expect this,” St-Germain said. “I attacked, had a bit of a mistake, just thinking: ‘Go down, go down, go down,’ and it worked out.”
St-Germain’s victory marked the first gold for Canada in women’s slalom since Anne Heggtveit won at the 1960 Olympics in Squaw Valley, which also counted as the world championships. It was also the first world title for a Canadian woman in any discipline since 2003 when Melanie Turgeon won the downhill.
St-Germain comes from the same small village in Quebec, Saint-Ferreol-les-Neiges, as two-time cross-country world champion Alex Harvey, and grew up racing with the same ski club that Turgeon came out of at Monte-Sainte-Anne.
St-Germain’s previous best result at a major championship was sixth in the slalom at the 2019 worlds. Sixth was also her best finish in a World Cup slalom, in Levi, Finland, in 2020.
Her gold raised Canada’s medal tally to four, after James Crawford won the men’s super-G, followed by bronze medals in the men’s downhill for Cameron Alexander and in the team event.
“It’s been really good for Canada. I don’t think we can say we are underdogs anymore,” St-Germain said. “I’m really glad I could contribute.”
Additional reporting by staff writer
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