Valérie Grenier in bronze to conclude the season

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(Sportcom) – Valérie Grenier ended her season in superb fashion by climbing to the third step of the giant slalom podium in the finals of the Alpine Skiing World Cup on Sunday in Soldeu, in the Principality of Andorra.  

The skier from the Mont-Tremblant club was provisionally second behind American Mikaela Shiffrin after the first run. She made a few mistakes on her second run, but was still able to be fast enough to earn her third podium of the season after winning the giant slalom in Kranjska Gora, Slovenia, and finishing third in the team competition. mixed in parallel at the World Championships.

Shiffrin won the race ahead of Norwegian Thea Louise Stjernesund (+0.06 seconds). Grenier was 0.20 seconds behind the American, who also won the specialty crystal globe.

Emile Nadeau takes his first World Cup podium

The curtain fell Sunday on the freestyle ski jumping season with two bronze medalists from Quebec. Émile Nadeau tasted the podium for the first time in his career at the World Cup final in Kazakhstan, while Marion Thénault received her fourth medal of the season.

At the Engadin World Cup earlier this season in Switzerland, Nadeau had too much rotation in one of his jumps. It left traces. In training, he hesitated in his maneuvers and he had to adjust in order to regain his confidence.

The skier from Prévost managed to adapt and temporarily take the lead in the super-final with 96.83 points. Three jumpers still had to start. After the Swiss Pirmin Werner (118.55) beat Nadeau, the American Christopher Lillis missed his jump, thereby ensuring a place on the podium for the young Quebecer.

“I didn't think it was possible! I knew the next three were strong and could beat me. When I heard Chris Lillis' score, I didn't understand at the time! It was really fun, just happiness,” said Nadeau, who took part in his first super-final this season.

Swiss Noe Roth won gold (123.00) . Also in action, Miha Fontaine and Alexandre Duchaine finished 9th and 14th.

Cross-country skiing: Canadians 12th, Liliane Gagnon continues her learning

Quebecers Antoine Cyr, Katherine Stewart-Jones and Liliane Gagnon teamed up with Albertan Russell Kennedy to conclude the Falun Cross-Country World Cup 4×5 km mixed relay in 12th place on Sunday in Sweden.

Cyr started the race in classic style and kept his team in the lead group to hand over to Stewart-Jones. The Chelsea athlete then finished his stint in seventh place and Kennedy moved his formation up a rank. Last torchbearer, Gagnon slipped six places and was the 12th to cross the finish line with a delay of 1 minute 19.1 seconds.

The Sweden 1 quartet finished in first place ahead of Norway 1 (+4.6 seconds) and Germany 1 (+6.4 seconds).

“I don't think I had my best race, but it wasn't my worst either, acknowledged Gagnon. The level of competition is high and for me, who is young and new to the circuit, it is still a big step to fight against girls who finish in the top-15 in the World Cup.