Valérie Grenier finishes season with a giant slalom win at World Cup Finals

Valérie Grenier earned the biggest victory of her career on Wednesday, winning the women’s giant slalom at the FIS Alpine Ski World Cup Finals in Lillehammer, Norway.

It was a brilliant bounce back after she felt disappointed by her performances during her third Olympic appearance at Milano Cortina 2026.

Grenier recorded a two-run time of 2:16.79 on the Hafjell course to take the victory in the final race of the season by 0.43 over runner-up Mina Fuerst Holtmann of Norway. Austrian Julia Scheib finished third in 2:17.36.

It was simply the best skiing that Grenier has shown this season. Staying light on her skis, she was able to link her turns smoothly despite the difficult spring snow conditions and a course that had deteriorated considerably.

Only 27 women qualified for the giant slalom at the World Cup Finals, based on their performances throughout the season. Grenier was 15th out of the start gate in the first run and posted a time of 1:07.90 that stood up for the lead by just 0.02 heading into the second run.

As the last woman down the course in the second run, Grenier knew how everyone else had skied and what she needed to do to get on the podium. She posted the third-fastest second run, which was enough to give her the victory by nearly half a second.

This is Grenier’s third career World Cup victory. She won the giant slalom at Kranjska Gora, Slovenia in January 2023 and January 2024. It’s her sixth career World Cup podium, five of which have come in the giant slalom, including a third-place finish on home snow in Mont-Tremblant, Quebec this past December. She finishes the season ranked seventh in the World Cup giant slalom standings.

Fellow Canadian Britt Richardson finished 20th in the giant slalom on Wednesday.