Marie-Michèle Gagnon faced a double challenge on Saturday at the World Cup in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany. In addition to being the first skier to start from the starting gate, the Quebecer had to face a slope on which she had never had success in downhill. But this time around, she excelled and finished ninth, just 0.27 seconds from a podium finish.
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The Swiss Corinne Suter and Jasmine Flury dominated the event to sign the double. Suter won with a time of 1:40.74, 0.51 seconds faster than her compatriot. The fight for third place was fierce and it was finally the Austrian Cornelia Huetter (+0.78 seconds) who was decorated with bronze at the end of the event.
Not far behind, Marie-Michèle Gagnon for her part obtained the best result of her career in the downhill on the legendary Kandahar, completing her race 1.05 seconds behind the winner of the day.
“I’m very happy and for me, it’s really a small victory!” she launched from the outset in an interview with Sportcom.
“It has always stressed me to have the number one bib in competition. In the past it created a lot of anxiety, but today (Saturday) I managed to perform well and got over it.”
This performance is all the more satisfying for the athlete from Lac-Etchemin who had never managed to tame this downhill course known to give athletes a hard time, in particular because of its icy portions at the top of the track.
“I hated it to die and never had a good feeling downhill here. I have always had difficulty on the ice, because I am a “feeling” skier and I rely on my sensations under my feet to ski with confidence”, explained the one who owes a great debt to her trainer and to the Canadian National Alpine Ski Team Equipment Attendant.
“After the first training this week, I was not confident, so I tried to find solutions with my coach to resolve the situation. Finally, our equipment attendant arrived with new boots and it made a huge difference! It totally changed my approach on the ice. I was able to attack and follow my “flow”.
Author of four top-10s since the start of the campaign, Marie-Michèle Gagnon will face one last test before her departure for the Beijing Olympics. She will be back on track on Sunday, still in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, as part of the super-G.
This will be the perfect opportunity to put his new pieces of equipment to good use while fine-tuning his preparation for the Olympics. And who knows, maybe even get back on the podium in this race where she finished third in January 2021.
“I had a podium here last year, so we’ll try to perform well again and see what happens! In any case, it is sure that I will have the same boots. We found a solution and it becomes an advantage for me. I am really happy!” she concluded.