Dominique Maltais remembers a 14-year-old teenager, very small, but already too strong for his age category. The snowboarder sat on the board of directors of Snowboard Québec and the organization faced a dilemma: should Éliot Grondin be given permission to compete among seniors with taller, stronger athletes?
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“He came up to their shoulders! remembers the double medalist in snowboard cross, joined on Saturday by The newspaper. He was sure he was going to be pushed around, but he had to learn to “ride” in traffic. It would give him experience. »
When Maltais saw Grondin’s individual downhill, the one that earned her a bronze medal, she thought that Snowboard Quebec had been right to grant her this exemption.
“Even though there was traffic around him, he focused on what he had to do. And that is not given to everyone. We all tend to stiffen up when there are other competitors around us, but Eliot, that’s not the case,” she rejoices.
Champion fiber
Maltais has known Grondin for a long time. When he was 12, the young athlete from Sainte-Marie went to Stoneham to see his idols compete in the World Cup.
But quickly, the silver medalist of the Sochi Games realized that this little snowboarder could aspire to follow in the footsteps of the best.
Earlier this week, Maëlle Ricker, now the head coach of the Canadian snowboard cross team, spoke about a message she received from her teammate several years ago.
“Éliot was only 12 years old and Dominique told me that a youngster was coming and that he would be really strong,” Ricker told our colleague Richard Boutin.
“Of course I have always pushed for our Quebecers, confirms Maltais. Eliot, we have seen for a long time that he is an athlete who stands out from the rest. Probably I was happy to tell my colleagues that we had champions in Quebec. »
Two medals in his suitcases
And she was right, the “pride of Petite-Rivière-Saint-François”. At only 20 years old, in a discipline where the best stand out thanks to their experience, Eliot Grondin will leave Beijing with a silver and a bronze medal in his suitcases, the latter won in the team event.
From the top of his six feet, the little snowboarder has become big.
“I know that since his arrival on the Canadian team, he has really changed the dynamic,” said Maltais. He’s someone who spreads fun in a gang. There is a simplicity and an honesty in this boy. He’s just here to have fun! »
