Olympic disappointment has only fueled the fire that burns inside Valérie Grenier.

The women’s World Cup ski racer was back home in L’Orignal last week, getting ready to head back to Europe for the rest of the racing season. And she will not only be racing Giant Slalom (GS), but adding Super G events to her race schedule.

“If it all goes well then I’m planning on racing Super G,” said Grenier, who will be in the starting gate for the next Super G race in Lenzerheide, Switzerland, on March 5 and then the GS, also at Lenzerheide, the following day on March 6. “I did a few races last year, but not many and it didn’t go as well as I would have liked.”

“I’m really excited to do it and I feel good about it, so it should be fun.”

Grenier, who was raised in St-Isidore, was disqualified after getting caught on a gate just seconds from the end of her first run at the Winter Olympics in Beijing, China, on February 7. It was a heartbreaking finish for the local skier, who had high hopes for a medal after a fourth-place finish in the World Cup GS race in Slovenia in early January.

“I thought I started the race a bit tentatively instead of going for it,” said Grenier, who saw earlier top level skiers struggle in their runs and thought it was because conditions were difficult. “Lower down I started to feel like myself again and I was really happy with it.”

But just a few gates from the end of her run, disaster struck.

“I just caught the inside of a gate with my arm,” Grenier remembers. “It happened so quickly that I didn’t have time to turn around and make the next gate – which was a huge bummer.”

L’Orignal’s Valérie Grenier (right) and teammate Cassidy Gray continued to maintain their positive attitudes after both failed to complete the first run in Women’s Giant Slalom at the Beijing Olympics on Monday, February 7.
Photo: Alpine Canada Facebook

“I was really disappointed when it happened because I didn’t want it to end like that. I would have liked to make it to the second run.”

While she was sad to see her Olympics end with a disqualification, Grenier takes solace in the fact there are still lots of races left in the World Cup season in which she has made great strides.

“It’s crazy at the Olympics, because it’s just one race,” she said. “It’s hard for everyone to be ‘on’ that one day.”

“I’m super excited about the rest of the season. I feel good and I’m looking for good results.”

The Olympics in Beijing were much different from her experience at the 2018 Olympics in South Korea, Grenier said.

“What’s strange is at the bottom there was no music and no commentators. It was kind of crazy, because you got to the bottom and nothing was happening. There was no atmosphere at all.”

She said the lack of spectators was definitely noticed by the competitors. Athletes also did not have much time to sightsee or watch other competitions, as they arrived just before their own events and then had to leave within 48 hours.

“Time went by so quickly, because when we got there we trained every day up until the race,” Grenier explained. “I didn’t really have much free time to walk around or see other sports.”

“That was totally fine with me, because I was there to race.”

Grenier, now 25 years old, said she expects to compete again for Canada at the Winter Olympics in Cortina, Italy, in 2026, when she will be 29.

“I don’t know if I consider myself young anymore, but I’m definitely planning on it,” she said, noting her success this World Cup season has her feeling confident about her future in the sport. “I feel like I’m just getting started.”