World champion in slalom: Laurence St-Germain on cloud nine

Gold medalist in the slalom event at the Alpine Skiing World Championships presented in Courchevel and Méribel, France, on February 18, Laurence St-Germain is still struggling to believe it.  

“The word “win”, it seems that I still have trouble realizing it, admits the skier from Saint-Ferréol-les-Neiges. The first two days, I said to myself: “Laurence, you are world champion” and I started laughing because I don't understand. There are times, when I'm at the finish line, that I still don't remember what happened. It's a little fuzzy in my head.”

By becoming world champion last Saturday, the 28-year-old achieved a feat that few Canadian women before her have achieved. The last was Anne Heggtveit, in 1960, at the Winter Games in Squaw Valley, California.

“Honestly, I don't know yet all that implies in my future, but it sure it's a dream come true. It makes me proud, but it makes me busy at the moment!”

And this victory gives him a lot of confidence for the future.

“I know how I should feel, how to think. I will try as much as possible to reproduce my state of mind that I had in the race to achieve the same result in other competitions. Of course it comes with more expectations, but I have to stay realistic. Before Saturday, my best result was 6th. That does not mean that there, I will win all the races. »

Back home

The young woman was back home on Friday, where she can spend some time with her loved ones.

“I haven’t had time to celebrate with my family yet. I arrived late last night in Quebec. I was in Montreal for school in the last few days. But tonight, I'm celebrating with my friends and family.

Since her triumph last weekend, Laurence St-Germain says she has been inundated with messages of love. The biomedical engineering student at Polytechnique Montréal was also honored in class.

“The school’s general manager came to surprise me in class on Wednesday to congratulate me. It still touched me. » 

Proud of her journey

The journey of the 28-year-old athlete, who trains at the Mont-Sainte-Anne ski club in Quebec City, has not been easy. Cut off from the Canadian development team, ignored by the national junior team, the skier even had to pay $30,000 out of her own pocket a year ago to stay on the maple leaf team.< /p>

“It makes me even more proud of my journey and even more proud of what I have accomplished. Throughout my career, I have not always had the support that I could have had or that others had. That's really what I'm proud of, that there's a lot of it that I did on my own, that I don't owe it to anyone or very few people.

It was her love for the sport that drove her to persevere. 

“What makes me proud, too, is that I really continued for the love of skiing and not for the results, nor for the performance or to be the best. It was really [because] I love skiing. »

His next goal: the 2026 Olympics.