Canadian Laurence St-Germain, last season’s surprise world champion in the slalom, is expected to miss at least two World Cup slaloms due to an ankle injury.
“Straddled pretty hard in training last week and since my ankle took a bit of a hit I have to wear a different kind of boot for a little while,” was posted on her social media. “Silver lining is that I get to spend Christmas home with my family which I haven’t done in 7 years! I’m working hard with my team to come back as soon as possible.”
St-Germain, 29, missed Thursday’s slalom in Courchevel, France. She is also expected to miss next week’s slalom in Lienz, Austria.
A rep for St-Germain said she aims to race the following week’s slalom in Kranjska Gora, Slovenia, but that “the return date is not certain.”
St-Germain’s best finish in three slaloms so far this season was seventh in Levi, Finland, on Nov. 12. She has not raced an event other than slalom in more than three years.
Last Feb. 18, St-Germain overtook Mikaela Shiffrin to win the world championships slalom in Meribel, France.
St-Germain was at the time ranked 18th in the world in the event. Her resume included a best World Cup finish of fifth, plus computer science and biomedical engineering degrees.
She became the first Canadian woman to win an Alpine skiing world title in 20 years and the second to do it in slalom after Anne Heggtveit, who won the 1960 Olympics back when the Winter Games also counted as world championships.
Another one of Shiffrin’s slalom challengers, Swiss Wendy Holdener, is expected to miss at least two months, if not the rest of the season, after undergoing left ankle surgery last week.
