Between December 3, 2005 and January 11, 2025, 6979 days have passed. That’s 19 years, one month and eight days. This is the gap between the 2nd place of the Valaisanne Sylviane Berthod at the end of the descent from Lake Louise in Canada almost two decades ago and the 2nd place of her compatriot Malorie Blanc in St. Anton this Saturday. In the meantime, no skier from French-speaking Switzerland had managed to get onto a World Cup podium at the end of a speed competition (downhill or super-G)!
Ski fans from the French-speaking part of the country will not be surprised either by the feat of the skier from Ayent. The Swiss was crowned junior world champion in super-G and vice-champion in downhill, a little less than a year ago in Châtel (Fr). As a bonus, she placed third in Thursday’s training alone. It is rather the speed of her return to the highest level which was the first tour de force for the Valaisanne, she who tore the ligaments in her left knee last February.
Malorie Blanc returned to action at the beginning of December, during FIS races in the United States – like a certain Lindsey Vonn (6th in Austria), in fact. A podium and a 4th place in Super-G later, she followed up with a 4th place and a success in super-G, “at home”, in Zinal, in the European Cup. Enough to get a first start in the World Cup in St. Moritz, with the pressure that goes with it. The Valaisanne went off the track, but it was only postponing the inevitable: the explosion at the highest level.
“I rediscover the sensations, the pleasure and I realize that, contrary to what I feared, I have not lost the instinct or the freshness that I had last season, before my injury,” she explained at SkiActu.ch, after its success in the Valais resort on December 17. “I am the first to be impressed,” added Malorie Blanc at the bottom of the St-Anton track, with her bib No. 46. “I have a staff in whom I trust and I am so grateful to them… I would never be not here without my supervision.”
-“I didn’t necessarily expect a podium, because I found myself a little low on the line. It wasn’t as good as what I had planned in my mind, the skier from French-speaking Switzerland laughed at the FIS microphone this Saturday. I just tried to ski the way I know how. At the finish, I was so surprised to be 2nd. There, I’m just enjoying it.” She can, but there’s a super-G on Sunday that seems to catch her eye a bit too
“After my good result in training, I had a bit of… No pressure, but I said to myself: ‘OK, let’s do it’! Maybe I can do something good, she analyzed. I tried to stay calm and just ski the way I know how, in the simplest way possible and it was fair.”
To continue to revisit history, the Valaisanne can remember the late Corinne Rey-Bellet. She is the last Romande to win a World Cup speed event. It was in St. Moritz, 22 years ago.
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