Laurence St-Germain had planned to study for her molecular biology exam the next day. On Monday, she was instead sitting in the newsroom of The Presshis sixth of the morning after touring the TVs and radios.
Half an hour earlier, she was running down the sidewalk towards the TVA studios when she realized her gold medal was dangling around her neck. The International Ski Federation did not give him a case to store his precious golden snowflake…
The preceding 48 hours passed like a whirlwind for the new world slalom champion.
“It looks like I barely have time to breathe and really appreciate it, breathed St-Germain. This is completely crazy ! »
PHOTO JEFF PACHOUD, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE ARCHIVES
Laurence St-Germain on the podium after his victory at the World Championships
After the usual interviews and the anti-doping test on Saturday, she raced with her physiotherapist to catch the last gondola leading precisely to La Folie douce, a famous festive restaurant in the heights of Méribel Courchevel, where skiers and coaches celebrated the ultimate women’s event of these Worlds.
The arrival of the slalom winner was duly underlined: “I was offered a lot of champagne! »
Before the evening medal ceremony in the heart of the village, she received warm congratulations from her rivals, including Olympic champion Petra Vlhová (5e).
“I know them well, but I’m more embarrassed, more reserved. I’m not always the center of attention, so it really touched me that the girls were proud. I felt them sincere. »
Celebrated in front of thousands of people, the ceremony was “moving”, the moment for her to begin to take the measure of her achievement.
I don’t easily express my emotions. To hear the national anthem, to see the flags go up… I looked at my medal which meant: today, I am the best in the world, nobody was faster than me. It’s the craziest. I was THE fastest. It’s really weird to think about it…
Laurence St Germain
Especially knowing that she beat Mikaela Shiffrin by more than half a second, something almost impossible to conceive. The silver medalist served as her guide on the stage.
“I looked at her: what do we do? I didn’t quite know where to go. She said, “OK, now we’re going to take pictures.” She coached me so I know where to look… I thought that was super sweet. »
PHOTO LEONHARD FOEGER, REUTERS
Silver medalists Mikaela Shiffrin and bronze medalist Lena Dürr surround Laurence St-Germain.
After a stint at party from Rossignol, where she was finally able to have a bite to eat and meet the employees who make her skis, she ended the evening with her teammates from the Canadian team and friends from when she was playing at the University of Vermont. She is almost embarrassed to say that she came home at dawn…
The next day, she was sitting on a plane in Geneva, bound for Montreal. For the first time, she scrolled through the hundreds of congratulatory messages on her phone screen. That of Mélanie Turgeon, her childhood idol and last Canadian world champion, particularly touched her.
Some members of his family were waiting for him at the airport on Sunday evening. She barely had time to get her parents and her brother on the phone. On her return to her apartment near Polytechnique Montréal, where she is doing a bachelor’s degree in biomedical engineering, she ran into one of her three roommates. She asked him if it had been…
“I let myself believe it”
St-Germain’s victory is all the more astonishing as it comes after a season – and even two – marked by more lows than highs. His seventh place in the World Cup in the Czech Republic, three weeks earlier, represented a turning point. A video analysis gave him a precise idea of the aspects to work on the snow.
“I did a lot of exercises in free skiing, completely alone. It helped me know what to do, what to feel. »
An almost fortuitous meeting with her older brother William, who had come to train with her for a day in Italy, was a breath of fresh air. At 30 and now an engineer, he is making a comeback to competition after an absence of more than four years.
On the first descent, she only gave three tenths into the wall. “It surprised me and helped me believe that I was skiing fast. But it was especially cool to talk about skiing with him, to watch each other descend and help each other. It was like before when we skied together. It was very cool to relive that with him. He knows me better than anyone, as a person and as an athlete. I felt he was impressed with my skiing and how I was working. It confirmed what I thought. »
PHOTO PATRICK SANFAÇON, THE PRESS
Laurence St-Germain and her precious medal
The day before his race, Laurence St-Germain slept very badly, a rather positive sign under the circumstances. “It was a stress of the type: I know that I am able. It shows that doing well is really important to you. »
She spoke with her mental trainer, Christiane Trottier, a psychology professor at Laval University with whom she has worked for two years. She helps him get in the right mood before departure. Relaxed and smiling, but ready to attack.
On this aspect too, there has been a progression. “It’s the first race where I let myself believe in it,” she summed up. Letting believe that I was able to make an exceptional result with the ski that I had. »
A little later in the interview, she clarified her thoughts: “It may seem strange to say, but it’s as if I was afraid of letting myself succeed, of being second or third after the first run and of be disappointed afterwards and not keep my place on the podium. »
Precisely, after her third position in the initial round, she refused to see the video and kept her distance from her coaches. Her teammate Ali Nullmeyer had the most reassuring comment: “You don’t need to be stressed, you skied exactly like in training. You haven’t done something you can’t do. »
In fact, without being perfect, St-Germain achieved the ultimate descent necessary to reach the podium and, to his surprise, on the top step.
Leaving The Pressthe new champion wanted to join her biology teacher who was open to postponing the exam…
On the skis of the former champion
PHOTO FABRICE COFFRINI, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE ARCHIVES
Laurence St-Germain in action last Saturday
Funny fact, Laurence St-Germain won her slalom title on skis first intended for the Austrian Katharina Liensberger, her predecessor as world slalom champion. “They were made for Katharina last year and in the end, I think she didn’t like them,” explained the 28-year-old Quebecer. I tried them on and said: OK! Like the great Petra Vlhová, Rossignol’s standard-bearer, St-Germain skis on 160cm boards, which are longer than the average competitor on the circuit. After a difficult winter, Liensberger was unable to reverse the trend in Méribel, settling for 20e rank in slalom and 24e in giant.
Eve Routhier to the rescue!
Overwhelmed by media requests and solicitations on social networks, St-Germain appealed for help to her friend Ève Routhier, a former skier for the Canadian team. “My teammates make fun of me because I’m really not on social media. So it was Eve who was already giving me a hand. With a bachelor’s degree in communication, she therefore landed in Montreal to help the new world champion weather this unexpected storm.