In 70 World Cup starts, Laurence St-Germain has never been on the podium. In three attempts at the World Championships, she has a gold medal, snatched from the noses of the favorites, on February 18, in Méribel.
This anomaly in her track record, the slalom skier from Saint-Ferréol-les-Neiges would like to make it disappear. Not because she has imposter syndrome, rather because she knows she is perfectly capable of it.
“I tasted it and I want to do it again,” she said on Monday. I don’t really feel the pressure from the other skiers. And I don’t feel like if I don’t do it again, I don’t deserve it [ce titre mondial]. It’s really more that I have the motivation and the desire to do it again. »
After a crowd at Tremblant, where she happily reconnected with the great Quebec and Canadian alpine skiing family, Laurence St-Germain is back in Europe for the rest of the World Cup season.
In three starts in November, the results are divided: not qualified for the second round of the opening slalom in Levi, seventh the next day on the same Finnish track, 14e two weeks later in front of the excited audience of Killington, where she had done relatively well in the first round (8e).
“I was very disappointed after the first race in Levi. However, training was going well and that’s not how I wanted to start my season. There is always extra stress at the first race because you haven’t compared yourself with the others over the summer and you don’t know where you stand. I made a tactical error at the bottom of the first pitch, it cost me my second round. »
PHOTO GIOVANNI AULETTA, ASSOCIATED PRESS ARCHIVES
Laurence St-Germain in action at the World Cup in Levi, Finland, on November 12
Fortunately, the world champion did not have to brood over this failed transition for long: less than 24 hours later, she launched out of the gate for a second try in the “Levi Black”, en route to seventh place, at 1 .32 seconds from the indomitable Mikaela Shiffrin, her runner-up at the Worlds. Without being perfect, her two rounds were more in line with what she had produced so far in training.
“I was very happy with how I bounced back. I really executed my game plan better. They weren’t my best runs ever, but they were really good runs that I want to be able to consistently replicate. »
“Confident” for Killington, a “local” race for the University of Vermont graduate, Laurence St-Germain gave herself chances of success with the eighth time in the initial round. However, two mistakes sank her on the restart.
“I was disappointed, especially at Killington, where I always want to do well in front of my family and friends. Fourteenth is below my expectations, but it’s not dramatic either. »
Rehabilitation not finished
Both in Vermont and in Finland, the 29-year-old athlete experienced the same problem in the second round: she momentarily dropped her right stick after hitting a pole. Each time, she recovered well, but the small losses of balance that followed certainly cost her some positions.
These gripping difficulties are attributable to an injury suffered during a spring training camp at Tremblant. A complete rupture of a ligament in her right thumb landed her on the operating table on 1er april. Clearly, rehabilitation is not quite complete. The master’s student in biomedical engineering at Polytechnique Montréal saw her surgeon again last week. Reassured by the condition of her hand, she left with exercises from an occupational therapist.
PHOTO MARTIN TREMBLAY, LA PRESSE ARCHIVES
Laurence St-Germain suffered an injury to his right hand during a spring training camp at Tremblant.
“Since I’m right-handed, this hand should be stronger, but it was weaker. It’s about retraining it. »
After her visit to Tremblant, where she attended with a touch of jealousy the two giant slaloms won by Federica Brignone, Laurence St-Germain put her skis back on in the north-east of Italy, where she had three good days on a track intended for training.
“I have already made gains in small technical and tactical aspects that I wanted to work on after Killington. After recognition [du parcours], it’s really about seeing far, taking in as much information as possible while I’m going down. At the same time, I just want to execute and trust my technical abilities. »
I gained a lot of conviction in my technique. It’s super positive.
Laurence St-Germain
Returning from a weight training session at the time of the interview, interrupted by passages in a tunnel, the skier will be entitled to two days off before another period of training at another location in Italy.
Her next meeting will take place on December 21 in “the alpine skiing bourgeoisie” in Courchevel, where she had her golden snowflake slipped around her neck after her victory in the neighboring resort of Méribel last winter. This return to the 3 Valleys does not particularly excite her, she assures us, except that the slalom will take place under the reflectors, a prospect which enchants her.
“These are the men who skied in Courchevel at the World Championships, so it won’t be the same track. I still know her, but she is different. It’s a completely different atmosphere. »
Not so much, if the Quebecer manages to climb one of the three steps of the box again.