Quebecer Laurence St-Germain won the gold medal in the women’s slalom at the Alpine Skiing World Championships ahead of the illustrious American Mikaela Shiffrin on Saturday in Méribel, France.
In the final standings, St-Germain clocked a cumulative time of one minute 43.15 seconds, or 57 hundredths of a second ahead of Shiffrin. Germany’s Lena Duerr won the bronze medal after finishing 69 hundredths of a second behind the Quebecer.
It is the first gold medal for a Canadian skier in women’s slalom since Anne Heggtveit at the 1960 Olympic Games in Squaw Valley, USA. This competition was also part of the World Championships.
Previously, St-Germain’s best result at the World Championships was sixth in the slalom in 2019 in Sweden. A sixth-place finish was also his career-best finish in a World Cup slalom in Levi, Finland, in 2020.
Third at the end of the first run, 61 hundredths of a second behind Shiffrin, St-Germain delivered a high-level performance in the second run, which she negotiated in 50 precise seconds.
This performance then allowed her to rise to first place in the provisional classification and also assured her of her very first podium at a major international competition, because there were only two skiers left who could threaten her time.
The first of these skiers was the Swiss Wendy Holdener, who had completed the initial run in second place, 42 hundredths of a second ahead of St-Germain.
Holdener, however, fouled at a gate near the halfway mark, ending her run before she reached the finish line.
There remained only Shiffrin who, in the eyes of many observers, was the great favorite of the event, she who had won the giant slalom of these World Championships two days before.
But Shiffrin seemed to misfire halfway through and completed his second run in 51.18 seconds, well behind the time of the 28-year-old from Saint-Ferréol-les-Neiges.
Two other Canadians participated in the race, the last of the women’s section of these World Championships.
Toronto’s Ali Nullmeyer placed 12th with a cumulative time of 1:44.48, including a second run negotiated in 50.01 seconds.
Amelia Smart of British Columbia finished 24th in 1:45.19.
Until Saturday since the start of the World Championships, Canada had obtained three medals.
The harvest had begun with James Crawford’s gold in the super-G on February 9. Three days later, Cameron Alexander won the bronze medal in the downhill.
Canada added a bronze medal in the mixed team parallel event on February 14 thanks to the efforts of Valérie Grenier, Jeffrey Read, Britt Richardson and Erik Read.
The Alpine Skiing World Championships will end on Sunday with the presentation of the men’s slalom.