Mikaela Shiffrin had to settle for 2nd place in the Women’s World Slalom Championships, being denied of her fourth title in this discipline.
Outsider Laurence St-Germain put down two brilliant runs to take Canada’s first gold medal in women’s slalom for 63 years.
Lena Duerr of Germany stayed consistent through the race to wrap up the podium places.
This was Canada’s second gold of the Championships after James Crawford won the Super G title last week.
St-Germain had the ski of her life to have her first victory at this level, her best result on the World Cup tour prior to this was 7th place in the last World Cup race in the Czech Republic.
The American, Shiffrin, got the action away this morning setting a blistering time which was untouchable for the rest of the field, with the Canadian 0.61 seconds off the pace.
However, despite the ruts and bumps in the final run through the Roc de Fer piste, St-Germain put together a smooth and dynamic ski that Shiffrin could not match, finishing 0.2 seconds behind over the two runs.
Following the race, St-Germain said: “I was really not expecting this obviously, it’s unbelievable.
“I was asking Lena which side of the podium I should go for second, but in the end I had to be in the middle.”
Wendy Holdener, placed second after the first run, was thrown out by one of the ruts on run two.
Local girl and one of the stars of Wednesday’s parallel event, Marie Lamure, continued her good form making ground from bib 42 to finish the first run in 19th place. Despite losing places on the second run, she still demonstrated the skill she has at the young age of 21-years-old, entertaining the home crowd in France.
Veteran Nastasia Noens was the fastest of the French in 15th just one place above Lamure.
Great Britain submitted four racers for this event, the established duo of Charlie Guest and Alex Tilley were joined by young stars Reece Bell and Victoria Palla.
With Guest and Tilley both returning from injury for the World Championships, none of the British were able to make the top 30 cut off for the second run.
However, the World Championship format allowed the skiers from outside the top 30 to complete their second run – all-be-it on the rutted surface after the likes of St-German and Shiffrin had finished.
Guest and Palla finished 31st and 36th respectively, while Reece Bell unfortunately did not finish.
Team GB will have a final attempt in the men’s slalom tomorrow, with Dave Ryding, Laurie Taylor, Billy Major and Ed Guigonnet who qualified for the event with an 8th place finish in qualifying.
A sign of great growth from the British ski team to have four competitors in both slalom events in this tournament.
Words Jack Feneley
Pictures Zoom Agence