Forced to beg: A ski world champion in need

On February 18th of this year, Laurence St-Germain stunned the ski world. In the very last World Championship race in Méribel, the slalom, the Canadian sensationally won the gold medal - even though she had never been better than sixth before. It's exactly these moments that make a World Ski Championships so special.

Seven months have passed since this huge surprise, and now a new season is just around the corner. And the euphoria at St-Germain has now been severely dampened. She and her teammates are worried about money.

$20.000 to ride Canada's ski association is short on cash. So tight that every athlete has to pay 20.000 Canadian US dollars - that's around 14.000 euros - every winter to be able to be part of the team. That's a lot of money that also costs Valérie Grenier. Along with St-Germain, she is the second star in the North American women's team; last season she won her first World Cup race in Kranjska Gora.

Valérie Grenier is also struggling. © AFP / PIERRE TEYSSOT

“I’m at $5.000, I think,” Grenier said in an interview with last week radio canada. The two have some loyal private sponsors, but that is far from enough - also because skiing in Canada is not as important as in Austria, Switzerland or Italy, for example. “I'm still looking for sponsors and I haven't exhausted my partnership opportunities yet. There is still space on my helmet, as well as on my racing suit,” explains St-Germain. “We have become a little better known, but basically not much has changed.” Valerie Grenier St-Germain and Grenier can only dream that sponsors will come running down the doors after the sensational World Championship title or first World Cup victory. “We have become a little better known, but basically not much has changed,” says Grenier.

Fundraising gala and online campaign Last Friday, the two ski stars organized a fundraising gala in Quebec in the hope of taking a step forward in this tricky situation. “We hope that some people would like to contribute to our season,” said St-Germain in advance radio canada. The Canadians have also opened a fundraising campaign on their social networks and are asking for financial support.

Sarah Bennett and Simon Fournier, who are also part of the national team, will also benefit from this money. This shows that the athletes look out for each other. Solidarity is particularly great in difficult times like these.

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Forced to beg: A ski world champion in need

Imagine being a world champion in the supreme discipline of winter sports, alpine skiing. And yet you are forced to beg before the season. Sounds like a bad joke, but that's actually what happens.

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