The announcement of a World Cup at Tremblant in December 2023 could not have come at a better time for Valérie Grenier.
Posted at 8:00 a.m.
The athlete from Saint-Isidore, in eastern Ontario, will then be 27 years old, the prime of life in alpine skiing if your name is not Mikaela Shiffrin. The giant slalom specialist will have two events to shine on the mountain that saw her grow up.
Knowing the Flying Mile track, which she raced down thousands of times in her youth, won’t really help her, because it goes back a long way and the tracks are very variable on a giant. But she relies on the support of the crowd to offer the best of herself.
“It can be a stress as well as an advantage,” she observed Tuesday morning, still thrilled by the news unveiled by Alpine Canada (ACA) and the Laurentians station. “You know everyone is there for you too. It’s always a good thing. »
If his development continues as planned, Grenier could very well settle in the starting gate with the status of a contender for the podium. Her potential and that of some younger teammates are no strangers to ACA’s choice to turn to this women’s technical discipline in its application to the International Ski Federation.
Without shin problems, operations, a serious injury and a winter on the sidelines, the former junior world champion in the specialty would already probably be among the best in her profession on the eve of the new season which will open. Saturday in Sölden, Austria.
PHOTO MARTIN CHAMBERLAND, ARCHIVES LA PRESSE
Valerie Grenier
Last year, Grenier injured both knees in the dead of winter, which caused her to miss three World Cup starts and put her in a race against time to arrive ready for her second. Olympic Games in Beijing. Trapped by a capricious snow like many competitors, including Shiffrin, she left the track at the end of the first run.
Looking back, Grenier realizes that she probably thought too much about the medal.
“You may be putting pressure on yourself without even realizing it. It’s a bit like what happened to me before the Olympics. I felt good, there was nothing special. But I think sometimes you get too excited when you think too much about results. Basically, we think that we don’t put stress on ourselves, but unconsciously, there is. »
A new season
She therefore transposes this reflection to the 2022-2023 season, already her seventh on the big circuit despite a blank year after a serious injury at the 2019 World Championships.
The first podium is very close, she feels it, she wants it, but she refuses to linger on it. Nevertheless, she does not balk when it is suggested to her that it is only a matter of time.
“That’s what I tell myself too and that’s what I want to keep aiming for. I went very, very, very close and at other times quite close. I really believe it’s a possibility, but I don’t want to be like, ‘Ah, that’s what I’m going to do this weekend. It can play in your head. »
Twelfth in the classification of the discipline, even by missing a third of the starts, the Franco-Ontarian finished fourth in Kranjska Gora, only seven hundredths from the box. Other than going off the track at Lenzerheide, his worst result was a 13e square.
She’s been a bit fussed because she “doesn’t like to say a number”, but her desire this winter is clearly to slip into the top seven, a group for which the best bibs are reserved in the first round.
Finally, her health is excellent and she derives great confidence from a three-week course during the southern Chilean winter. The Portillo station was a discovery. “It’s just really magical as a place. The training was super productive with beautiful snow. »
With his compatriot Marie-Michèle Gagnon, Grenier skied with the men of the Canadian sprint team as well as with American and Norwegian downhillers. She finally managed to overcome a “mental block” that had kept her away from super-G since her quadruple leg fracture suffered at the 2019 Worlds.
“My goal this season is really to come back to super-G,” she said. I want to do all the shopping. It went really well in Chile and I wasn’t scared once. »
I just felt great, had fun and regained my confidence. So it looks good.
Valerie Grenier
At the start of the Olympic cycle where revolving doors are almost inevitable, she considers herself fortunate to always be able to count on her Italian coach Laurent Praz, a French-speaking person who has accompanied her since her return from injury.
The women’s team is now led by Karin Harjo, the only woman to hold this position in the World Cup. Grenier is complimentary about the American who has worked with Lindsey Vonn and Shiffrin in the past.
“I am extremely happy to have him with us. It’s a change that feels good. She is so amazing. You see she’s there to listen to us, she wants to do the best she can and at the same time, she’s really like a girlboss. She’s inspiring, she knows what she’s doing and she’s very cool at the same time. It’s the perfect mix. »
After final adjustments in Italy this week, Grenier feels ready to start the season on the Rettenbach glacier, where she finished seventh a year ago.
“It’s a track that usually suits me well. I hope it can continue like this. I feel great, actually. Honestly, I just really can’t wait to start racing…”