Canadian slalom skiers making mark
There’s suddenly more red at top of leaderboards
Canadian skiers Laurence St- Germain and Erin Mielzynki opened some eyes last weekend — their own included.
St- Germain was a stellar sixth and eighth, while placed Mielzynski 15th and 13th as the women’s World Cup slalom season opened with dual races in Levi, Finland. With Amelia Smart of Invermere, B. C., finishing 25th on the Saturday and Toronto’s Ali Nullmeyer skiing to 28th place on Sunday, the Canadian women’s tech team barged onto the tour.
“At the same race last year in Levi I didn’t even qualify for the second run, so it was good to start that way and be really strong and show what I can do,” said St- Germain, a 26-year-old from St. Ferréolles- Neiges, Que. “For sure it makes me really confident.
“This race was kind of the first race that I felt like I belonged. Last year in Riens, after the first run I was fifth. Getting ready for the second run, I was looking at everyone and it felt like I was really intimidated by everyone. I didn’t really feel I belonged there. It was a surprise to me that I could be there.
“But this race, after the first run the first day I was ranked seventh, and for me it kind of felt normal. It was a really good feeling. I feel I can accomplish so much more.”
That was her goal for this, her fifth World Cup season, to feel confident and take a step up from an 18th- place finish in last year’s slalom rankings.
Mielzynski is a 30- yearold from Collingwood, Ont., who has been on tour since 2009. She has two World Cup podiums to her credit, including a win in 2012. This year she is all about letting go of expectations that weighed her down in the past.
“I’ve always been extremely hard on myself,” she wrote in a recent Instagram post. “I expect myself to improve, overcome, learn and grow. I expect these things to happen quickly, and I expect myself to never make the same mistake twice. For years I felt as if I kept falling short, time and time again. It’s heavy. I’ve been hauling around this backpack of stones for so long. And I’m so ready to just set it down.”
She began that important mental process in Levi and found both joy and confidence as a result.
“Before the races in Levi I was thinking confidence is a dangerous thing when you have it,” she said in an interview on Wednesday. “You’re kind of a huge threat. It’s pretty cool to take some more confidence into the season, not only from our personal results but from the team.
“It’s amazing to see Laurence do well, not only for her but also to see where our team stacks up. Honestly, it will be really exciting to watch our team this year.”
The opening weekend results, compared to those from the same venue at the same time last season would suggest there is indeed reason for optimism.
There was j ust one women’s race held in Levi last year and only Mielzynski posted a result. She was 25th while St- Germain, Roni Remme of Collingwood, Smart and Nullmeyer all failed to qualify for a second run.
This has been an odd year for all of them because of the COVID-19 pandemic. They didn’t start training until the end of July and spent three months in Europe, most recently in Italy. Mielzynski and St- Germain are back in
it’s prett y cool to take some more confidence into the season.
Canada, in the middle of a 14-day quarantine. They will emerge to spend some time with family and friends, then jump back on a plane on Dec. 14 to resume training in Europe. The remainder of the slalom season then gets going again in January.
At that point, the 2022 Olympics in Beijing will only be 13 months down the road. Both Mielzynski and St- Germain are already thinking about those Games.
“Obviously, the big, big goal would be to get a medal,” said St- Germain. “So far I’m on the right track to prepare for that. After that I don’t know what’s going to happen but my goal is to ski until I can’t. So I don’t think it’s impossible that I will be there for even the next Olympics.”
Mielzynski is a veteran of three Games already, and her best individual finish to date was 11th in slalom at Pyeongchang 2018.
“My goal is to be a contender for the next Olympics. I don’t want to race just to say that I’ve raced in four Olympics,” she said. “I don’t need to go for a participation award.”