20-for-20 with Léo Grandbois

FasterSkierFebruary 22, 2017
Canada’s Léo Grandbois (r) leading the youth field to the range at the Canmore NorAm mass start in December 2014. (Photo: Jake Ellingson)

In another 20-something-question, fill-in-the-blanks series, we checked in with the world-class U.S. and Canadian biathletes that will be competing at 2017 International Biathlon Union (IBU) Youth & Junior World Championships Feb. 22-28 in Osrblie (also known as Brezno-Osrblie), Slovakia.

Here’s 17-year-old Léo Grandbois, of Biathlon Estrie, who will be representing Canada at his first Youth Worlds. In the first race of the championships, Grandbois won the youth men’s 12.5-kilometer individual.

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“My full name is Leo Grandbois, but you can call me any time (Leo) haha.  I was born in Germany, raised in Lennoxville, Quebec, and one thing you should know about my hometown is that it is pretty small.

Canada’s Léo Grandbois racing at the Canmore NorAm mass start in December 2014. (Photo: Jake Ellingson)

I started cross-country skiing when I was 5-6 and started biathlon when I was 8, thanks to my mom.

I currently train in Stoke, Quebec, with Biathlon Estrie and my coach Sandrine Charrons.

If I’m not skiing, you might find me in the woods.

If I had to pick a favorite book, it would be ‘Of Mice and Men’, but it is the only book I every read completely.

One of the things I’m most excited about for Youth/Junior World Championships in Brezno-Osrblie is to see their culture and to race.

This will be my first Youth/Junior World Championships, and this year, I’m competing as a youth. One race I’m especially targeting there is the sprint.

One of the best race memories I have is at Youth Olympic Games last year in Lillehammer, Norway.

If I could meet one World Cup skier, it would be Petter Northug and Erik Lesser.

If I don’t end up being a professional skier, I’ll probably be a forest firefighter.

I’m missing 15 days of school to be here, and my teachers/professors are probably thinking, ‘This guy is not doing the right thing,’ but I know that I am doing the right thing.”

FasterSkier

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