Trembling | Three Canadian women, including Valérie Grenier, qualified for the second round of the Alpine Ski World Cup giant slalom, held this afternoon in Tremblant in front of an enthusiastic crowd to mark the return of the White Circus for the first time since 1983.
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Second at the start, Grenier finished the first lap in 6th place, 0 s 77 seconds behind Italian leader Federica Brignone, who clocked a time of 1 minute 06 s 50. The Swede and Olympic champion in the discipline Sara Hector took second place 11th with 0 s, followed by the Swiss Lara Gut-Behrami with 0 s 35. At the top with 90 career victories in the World Cup was the American Mikaela Shiffrin with 0 s 47 5th place.
Due to the fog the start was delayed by 15 minutes and visibility at the top of the track was not very good.
With a career-best 10th place finish in the first downhill at Killington last weekend, Britt Richardson did well again with an 11th place finish, while her compatriot Gray Cassidy finished 23rd.
The 30 fastest runners will compete in the second round from 2:15 p.m.
Fall at the top of the course
Sarah Bennett returned to competition this year after surgery on her right shoulder and fell in the second section of the course. “My timing was wrong and my cane hit the door,” she explained. I have a back injury that I sustained during morning training. I was supposed to be there on Sunday. I had more pain and was able to ski.”
Despite his fall, Bennett kept his spirits up. “It’s another race that I won’t finish, but it means I’m taking risks and trying new things. I had the best season of my career when I had several events off the track.”
First race since March
In her first race since last March during the NCAA Championships and in her first World Cup since January 2021, Justine Clément did not achieve the expected result. She finished in 51st place. Clément only had eight days of skiing ahead of her when she set off from the summit of the Flying Mile.
“It’s not the performance I wanted, but I couldn’t reinvent the wheel,” she mused. I was happy when I saw my teammates at the University of Vermont who had made signs with my face on them. They screamed louder than the others. I can build on that. I return to the NCAA tournament next week and will try to fill the gap by hoping to get another invite from Team Canada.
Justine Lamontagne, for her part, finished 54th in her fourth career World Cup start. “I have to take my time,” she emphasized. It was special to see all those people as I sat in the chair before takeoff. As I crossed the finish line I heard my loved ones and it put a smile on my face.”