Alpine skiing | Laurence St-Germain can finally breathe easier

Laurence St-Germain got her first top 10 of the season on Wednesday morning in the slalom event at the World Cup in Lienz, Austria.

The skier from Saint-Ferréol-les-Neiges was not satisfied with her start to the season and this result allows her to start a new intensive block of competitions.

After an excellent first run, where she had set the seventh fastest time, St-Germain slipped a little during the second run. She finally finished ninth, her best result of the season.

“I feel like I started the course well, and that was my goal. I really wanted to focus more on the process and my approach today, more than on the result, so I’m really satisfied, ”she said at a press conference.

The 27-year-old says it was only small tactical errors on the flat portion of the course that tipped the scales.

With less satisfactory results in Finland and the United States in the first three races of the season, this top 10 comes at the right time, at the dawn of an intensive series of World Cups. By January 11, the skiers will make stops in Croatia, Slovenia and Austria to compete in three slaloms.

It is also during this block of competitions that female skiers will have to qualify for the Beijing Olympics in February. This is why the result of the day is all the more satisfactory for the Quebecer, since she only has one top 20 to achieve to ensure a place on the Canadian team.

“I’m not skiing at my best, but I know that if I attack, I can do well and that technically I will be able to perform,” she said.

Difficult conditions

The track conditions were difficult on Wednesday in Lienz. The surface gave a lot of skiers a hard time. More than twenty were unable to complete the race. Even if this unforeseen event was not a determining factor in its preparation, St-Germain is satisfied to have been able to accumulate points by finishing the two sets.

“Considering the fact that I didn’t finish one of the two races at Levi in ​​November, and for the standings and the starting positions, it’s important to finish all the races. ”

A more accessible classification

Even though Mikaela Shiffrin and Petra Vlhová still dominate this season in slalom, St-Germain is aware that the standings are on the move and are probably more permissive than ever. There have already been many surprises on the podium since the start of the season, and with a few weeks before the Olympics, it is motivating to know that all hopes are allowed.

“The race [de mercredi] was one of the tightest in recent years. The reference times were quite low. The level of competition is increasing, it’s really tight and it elbows. Today the top 10 move, whereas when I started it was always the same girls. It’s super motivating and if I can have two good races on a given day, I will have my chances ”, explained the one who appears in 14^e ranking in slalom.

Laurence St-Germain will be in action again on January 4, in Zagreb, Croatia.