Weather conditions caused problems for several skiers on Saturday during the World Cup slalom final in Soldeu, Andorra. Laurence St-Germain was part of the lot, she who was unable to complete the second round after falling in the second half of the course.
In total, ten athletes saw the mention DNF (Did Not Finish) next to their name on the results sheet during the two legs of this race, which was contested in rain and slush in the second leg.
St-Germain had started the day well in the first run, finishing tenth thanks to his time of 56.05 s. She continued her momentum at the start of the second run until the imbalance that ended her hopes of a podium.
“It’s a bit of a disappointing day. It’s a tough track here and on top of that the conditions were tough. On the second wall, I lost my footing and fell sideways. It’s also disappointing because I think I got off to a good start,” commented St-Germain via videoconference.
“I was happy with my first run, even though I made a tactical error almost in the same place as in the second run. I was happy with my approach in both runs, I really pushed and put all the energy I could into that last race,” she added.
Slovak Petra Vlhova took top honors on Saturday by winning ahead of Croatian Leona Popovic (0.43 seconds) and American Mikaela Shiffrin (0.86 seconds). However, Shiffrin got his hands on the slalom crystal globe, the seventh of his career in this specialty.
With a title of world champion in her pocket and her best result in the World Cup with a fifth place in Äre, the skier from Saint-Ferréol-les-Neiges obviously draws a very positive assessment from her most recent campaign.
“I learned a lot this season. I didn’t start very well, I lacked consistency in the race. I found my momentum during the year. My goal this season was to reach the podium. I had no idea it was going to happen at the World Championships though, and even less so with a victory. I checked off a few things this year on my to-do list and I’m really proud,” she commented, feeling motivated for what’s next.
The 2022-2023 season is now over. Laurence St-Germain is immediately looking to the next campaign. She will remain in Europe in the coming days to take part in ski tests with her sponsor Rossignol.
“It’s the first time I’m going to participate in the tests like this!” I will have the chance to train with Petra Vlhova and it will allow me to have skis more personalized to my style next year,” concluded St-Germain.