“Stats say you’re supposed to have your first podium at 23…”
With her world slalom champion gold medal in front of her, Laurence St-Germain can allow herself to smile.
This title, a first for a Canadian in 20 years, the athlete from Saint-Ferréol-les-Neiges fetched it with the sweat of her brow. With a few staunch allies, but often alone.
“I am even more proud of not having had a path like the others, she noted on Monday. The best ones, like Mikaela Shiffrin or Petra Vlhová, literally have private teams. »
Not only does St-Germain have no private coaching, but she also had to make her way back to the national team after being kicked out in 2014, without even being invited to a selection camp. At 19, she was considered too old…
“I really did it on my own,” she agreed without bitterness. There were times when I really had no support. Fortunately, my parents and my brother were there to help me. »
“If it’s over, it’s over”
St-Germain turned to computer science studies at the University of Vermont and the American college circuit, where she shone with two memorable national titles at the end of her run in 2019.
The Quebec team and its head coach Francis Royal, who always believed in his potential, reached out to him. It was he again who found training grounds during his current stay in Quebec.
After a first experience at home in Mont-Sainte-Anne in 2013, she challenged herself to return to the Junior World Championships in Norway in 2015. The technician even took part in super-Gs without training to grab points, borrowing the skis of her teammate Valérie Grenier…
Second rebuff from Alpine Canada: “They decided not to take me even though my results were quite similar to those of the girls who qualified. »
A return to the Canadian team seemed highly unlikely to him. Without giving up, she resigned herself, in all serenity. The next three years on the NCAA circuit were shaping up to be a great way to close the loop in ski racing.
I love skiing, it’s my passion. But I have so many things in my life that I don’t need skiing to be happy either.
Laurence St Germain
Before the Worlds, she was at 19e rank of the starting list of the World Cup, a ranking established over a calendar year. The Canadian team demands a top-15 spot to return the following year…
This precarious situation never worried her. “This year has been full of ups and downs. I said to myself: if it’s over, it’s over. But I will always love skiing. I never thought of quitting skiing as such, but there were times when I stopped believing that I would make it until today. »
As for the stats…