Laurence St-Germain causes upset as Mikaela Shiffrin misses out on second World Championships gold in Meribel

ByBen Southby

Updated 18/02/2023 at 15:33 GMT

Canada ended a 63-year wait to win a World Championships gold medal in the slalom when Laurence St-Germain produced a shock to pip American Mikaela Shiffrin to top spot. Shiffrin led after a spectacular first run, but a slower second run and a DNF from second place Wendy Holdener allowed St-Germain to capitalise and clinch gold medal. “I was not expecting this, it’s unbelievable!”

Laurence St-Germain caused an upset to win gold in the slalom at the World Championships in Meribel, France.

Mikaela Shiffrin, who was chasing a second gold and third medal at the championships, led after the first run, with two-time world champion Wendy Holdener in second.

St-Germain occupied third spot, but when Holdener failed to finish and Shifrin was unable to match her first effort, the Canadian took advantage with a stunning run and time of 50.00 seconds to land Canada’s first slalom gold in 63 years.

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“I was not expecting this, it’s unbelievable,” St-Germain said after she was confirmed champion in a combined time of 1:43.15. “I was really stressed, I felt nauseous.

“I was waiting for the time because I wasn’t sure,” she said when asked what it felt like crossing the finish line. “And then I was like, it’s impossible.

“But I was asking which side I should go [on the podium] for second because I didn’t know, but in the end I had to be in the middle! It’s crazy.”

Shiffrin’s spectacular first run worth a time of 52.54 seconds gave her the early advantage, with two-time world champion Holdener her closest competitor, 0.19 seconds adrift of the American.

The remainder of the field had a significant margin of more than nine-tenths of a second to make up in the second run if they were to deny Shiffrin her fifth World Championships slalom gold.

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Defending world champion Katharina Liensberger finished the first run 1.70 seconds off the pace, while Slovakia’s Olympic slalom champion Petra Vlhova left herself with a 0.99-second gap to close.

Holdener was denied the chance of a podium finish when she was forced off track after hitting a bump directly before a gate early on the course, while Vlhova disappointed on the second leg and couldn’t move above fifth place.

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Lena Duerr was fourth after the first run but managed to advance one place after posting a time of 50.38 seconds to creep into third place for a podium finish.

Shiffrin was last out and looked to wrap up a second gold medal of the championships and third in total after her wins in the giant slalom two days ago and silver in the super-G last week, but was 0.57 seconds off the pace on Saturday as St-Germain was confirmed the victor.

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