Valérie Grenier claims first career World Cup gold in Slovenia
Valérie Grenier has won her first career World Cup medal after a stunning pair of giant slalom runs at the FIS Ski World Cup in Kranjska Gora, Slovenia.
The 26-year-old was on the cusp of a breakout performance after her fifth-place finish last weekend in Semmering, Austria last weekend, but even she surprised herself with a gold medal on Saturday.
“I still can’t believe it,” Grenier said in a post-race interview. “It’s a dream come true, I’ve been wanting this for so long I’m going to cry I’m so happy.”
Despite a series of injuries that had been plaguing the skier recently, Grenier was in contention last weekend in Semmering before an early start out of the gate disqualified her from the competition.
With today’s win, Grenier becomes the first Canadian winner of a women’s World Cup giant slalom race since Kathy Kreiner won in Pronften, Germany, in 1974.
Grenier’s first run of 57.05 seconds was the fastest of the competition. She finished with a combined time of 1:55.01 as Marta Bassino of Italy (1:55.38) and Petra Vhloa of Slovakia (1:55.41) rounded out the podium.
