To have a perfect season on the Snowboard Cross World Cup circuit. To get back on the podium and defend her title as slalom world champion. To review her training in a new environment to launch a new Olympic cycle.
These are the respective objectives of Eliot Grondin, Laurence St-Germain and Lauriane Genest. However, these objectives are impossible to achieve without adequate financial support.
The three Quebecers have one thing in common: they have a few fewer financial worries on the eve of these new departures.
These three athletes, in addition to downhill mountain bike specialist Tristan Lemire, make up the first cohort of hopefuls funded by the new Traction program of the Quebec company Intelcom — Dragonfly outside of La Belle Province —, a specialist in the management of delivery networks and the development of logistics technologies.
Without revealing the amounts involved, a company spokesperson indicated that the amounts granted “make a difference” for these athletes. Intelcom will also become St-Germain’s main sponsor and its logo will be found on his helmet.
“[This sponsorship] will make a difference in the careers of many amateur and emerging athletes,” said St-Germain, on behalf of the recipients. “A day like today is important, because if we have to spend time finding money, it’s even harder to focus on what’s most important, which is our athletic performance.”
This is especially true when some athletes, like St-Germain and Grondin, must pay a fee to their national federation in order to be part of the Canadian team. This amount is $20,000 annually in St-Germain’s case.
St-Germain, the reigning world champion , will be the first to launch her season, while the slalom skier will be at the Levi World Cup on November 16 and 17. She leaves in a few days for a training camp in Italy. The 30-year-old athlete will want to get back on the podium, having been slowed down by an ankle injury suffered last December, which caused her to miss almost two months on the circuit.
“It affected my end of the season. I wanted to ski, but I came back a little too quickly,” she explained Tuesday. “There was no risk of making the injury worse, but it meant that I lacked consistency. It made me take a step back and take the time to do a lot of rehabilitation. I missed spring camp so that everything would settle back into place in my ankle. I resumed physical training and returned to snow in Chile in September. It really went better than I thought it would.”
“You can never aim too high”
Grondin, who won his first crystal globe last year by climbing onto the podium in 10 of the 11 races he took part in, including seven victories , will begin his sporting calendar on December 13 and 14 in Cervinia, Italy. This season, he is aiming for nothing less than a perfect season.
“At where I am, getting better is even more difficult, like increasing the gap with my competitors,” said the snowboarder from Sainte-Marie. […] What has never been done in my sport is a perfect season. Whether I will succeed this season, we don’t know, but we can never aim too high. My last season showed me, as an athlete, where I was, especially after a more difficult season. We found a recipe that works well, now, how do we make it better? […] After 10 podiums in 11 races, I wasn’t that far away.”
As for Genest, a bronze medallist in the keirin at the Tokyo Olympics , the track sprinter has decided to leave the National Training Centre in Milton, Ontario, where she has lived and trained for the past seven years, to settle in Bromont, at the brand new velodrome there. She also took the road to Milton immediately after Tuesday’s press conference and will move into her new apartments in November.
“It’s going to be for the best,” said the 26-year-old cyclist, who seemed more serene than at her last meeting with the media, at the Paris Olympics, which had been difficult for her and the rest of the Canadian track delegation.
“Since the [Bromont] velodrome was built, I’ve had it in my head. It’s where I did my first laps. It’s two hours from my family, my friends. I’ve been in Milton for a while now.”
She has obviously received the blessing of Cycling Canada and head coach Franck Durivaux to make this important change. She will also receive the support of the Quebec Cycling Federation, which will help her in her preparation.
“He recognized that it could be beneficial for me, in order to have a better balance between my training and my social life.”
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