Grondin Looks To Complete Olympic Medal Collection - Beritaja

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A seasoned of 2 Olympics already, Canadian snowboard transverse racer Eliot Grondin has a existent consciousness for his sport.

With 4 competitors hurtling down an icy people astatine speeds that could transcend 80 km/h, thing could hap and often does. Preparation is all-important.

“There are a batch of things you can’t control. So you’ve conscionable sewage to go bully astatine controlling what you can,” Grondin said simply.

Like a Formula One racer, statement is all-important successful snowboard cross. And Grondin usually knows wherever he’s going.

“I could about apt spell (down the course) almost pinch my eyes closed,” he said matter-of-factly. “Pretty close.”

And it doesn’t return the 24-year-old from Saint-Marie, Que., agelong to cognize really the tally is unfolding.

“You cognize correct away. I could consciousness the quality betwixt two-tenths slower aliases not,” he said.

While fantabulous retired of the commencement gate, Grondin says he doesn’t walk overmuch clip moving connected the start.

“I could, but I consciousness for illustration there’s different areas wherever I could beryllium gaining much ground. So I’m a spot much focused connected those areas,” explained Grondin, adding that the commencement conscionable comes people for him.

Maelle Ricker, who won golden successful snowboard transverse astatine the Vancouver Olympics and is now co-head coach of the Canadian snowboard transverse team, says Grondin has each the attributes to win successful the sport.

“He’s a machine, for illustration a beast physically,” she said. “He has really bully touch connected the snow, and past he’s a competitor. When he’s successful the (starting) gate, there’s only 1 point connected his mind, and he’s sewage bully instincts to beryllium capable to respond and make decisions connected the course.”

Grondin’s extremity astatine the Milan Cortina Games is elemental — complete his badge collection.

Four years agone successful Beijing, Grondin won metallic successful snowboard transverse successful a photograph decorativeness down Austria’s Alessandro Haemmerle. At 20 years 297 days, Grondin was the youngest-ever Olympic medallist successful men’s snowboard cross.

He past teamed up pinch Meryeta O’Dine to return bronze successful the first Olympic mixed squad snowboard transverse event.

Grondin was conscionable 16 erstwhile he made his Olympic debut successful 2018, finishing 36th. He was the youngest man and second-youngest Canadian jock astatine Pyeongchang.

He has risen to the apical since then. The reigning world champion successful snowboard cross, Grondin has won back-to-back Crystal Globes and reached the World Cup podium 16 times passim 2024-25.

World Cup title has been sparse up of the Olympics, however.

Grondin placed seventh astatine a World Cup extremity successful Cervinia, Italy, connected Dec. 13 and vanished 10th a time later pinch Audrey McManiman successful the mixed squad event.

He was not a instrumentality of the way successful Italy, saying location wasn’t overmuch to activity pinch and noting a batch of the apical riders did not do good there. Haemmerle, for one, vanished 17th while France’s Loan Bozzolo and Austria’s Jakob Ducek, who vanished 2nd and 3rd down Grondin successful the 2025 World Cup standings, placed 18th and 20th, respectively.

“So for judge I would person wanted to do better,” said Grondin. “But successful the end, I was still rather happy because I had a awesome week. I was accordant time-wise each week, I had immoderate bully speed. We figured retired immoderate worldly pinch the instrumentality arsenic well, truthful there’s positives pinch that. Seventh spot isn’t wherever I wanted to be, but if I could return thing from it, past astatine slightest we’ve done thing right.”

After Italy, Grondin trained successful Australia and Japan earlier heading to a World Cup arena successful Dongbeiya, China, wherever he recorded second- and fifth-place finishes Jan. 17 and 18.

While he enjoys the travel, he acknowledges struggling to enactment wrong the airline’s weight limit erstwhile it comes to baggage.

He doesn’t recreation light, saying he has immoderate 20 boards pinch him successful Europe — a load eased by the truth that the instrumentality could move via motortruck aliases car. In flying to China, he chose 8 snowboards to bring pinch him aft studying the upwind that laic ahead.

“They’re each built the aforesaid — aforesaid stiffness, aforesaid length, aforesaid everything,” he said. “The quality is the guidelines worldly and the grind connected the base. So those will beryllium made to (handle) each the different temperatures and snowfall conditions we’ll get. So that’s really we take for each race, what board’s best.

“So you ever person two, three, 4 snowboards that are really bully successful each conditions. Obviously, you ever person a favourite committee because you thin to title ever 1 committee much than each the others.”

The squad has a slope of information connected which committee useful champion where, and connected what. Combine that pinch squad technicians, whom Grondin calls “magicians,” and the competitors “can really dial successful the setup from there.”

The people successful Livigno will beryllium a caller challenge, fixed that nary 1 has raced location before.

“It’s cool,” said Grondin. “For me, I for illustration caller venues. I consciousness I could accommodate beautiful quickly to caller races. Everybody benignant of has a spot of an thought of what it’s going to look like. But, for sure, it’s beautiful breathtaking to beryllium capable to put your feet down connected the way and fundamentally spot who could study the way the fastest.”

Like about athletes who competed successful Beijing, he is looking guardant to having family and friends connected manus to cheer him connected astatine these games.

Whatever happens, he is enjoying the ride.

“It’s cool. I emotion doing it,” he said of his sport. “Having the opportunity to beryllium capable to unrecorded what I love, recreation the world and train. There’s worse, for sure. I’m beautiful fortunate to bask what I do.”

Canada Snowboard Cross Team

Evan Bichon, Mackenzie, B.C.; Tess Critchlow, Kelowna, B.C.; Eliot Grondin, Sainte-Marie, Que.; Audrey McManiman, Saint-Ambroise-de-Kildare, Que.; Liam Moffatt, Truro, N.S.; Meryeta O’Dine, Prince George, B.C.

Alternate: James Savard-Ferguson, Baie-St-Paul, Que.

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This study by BERITAJA was first published Feb. 11, 2026

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"Grondin Looks To Complete Olympic Medal Collection - Beritaja"

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