Mikael Kingsbury of Canada celebrates his win in the men's dual moguls World Cup competition Saturday, Feb. 4, 2023, in Park City, Utah. (AP Photo/Jeff Swinger)
PARK CITY, Utah – After finishing second at the Deer Valley World Cup on Thursday, just behind Australia’s Matt Graham, Canadian Mikael Kingsbury had the opportunity to avenge his loss on Saturday as the two skiers squared off in the final of the dual moguls event.
And Kingsbury, the so-called “King of Moguls,” performed flawlessly throughout the day and into the final, earning the top spot on the podium for the 78th time in his World Cup career.
“I feel great! I wanted to take it one round at a time,” said Kingsbury, who is from Deux-Montagnes, Que. “I injured my wrist slightly on Thursday when I fell during a training run, but the doctors did incredible work to make sure I’d be in top shape today.
“It feels fantastic to win here, at Deer Valley, in front of my girlfriend and this awesome crowd.”
The victory moves Kingsbury into the top spot in the provisional World Cup standings for dual moguls, ahead of Sweden’s Walter Wallberg, whom Kingsbury defeated in Saturday’s semifinal. Wallberg finished the race in third place.
“I knew I had to win gold to move into first place in the standings. With a second-place finish today, I wouldn’t have gotten the leader’s bib. That gave me a little extra nudge to really go for the win,” Kingsbury said.
Thanks to Thursday’s silver medal, Kingsbury secured this year’s Crystal Globe for singles moguls – the 22nd of his career.
“This is huge. Two of my toughest opponents were unable to obtain good rankings on Thursday, and that allowed me to secure the Crystal Globe pretty quickly. It’s great news to be able to add another globe to my collection.”
To earn his spot in Saturday’s final, Kingsbury began the day with a first-round by, before defeating James Crozet of France in the next round. He then dashed the medal hopes of Sweden’s Albin Holmgren in the round of 16 before repeating the feat against Britain’s William Feneley in the quarterfinal.
In the women’s competition, Maia Schwinghammer of Saskatoon, Sask., had the best Canadian result. She lost her quarterfinal race to Jaelin Kauf of the United States, who later secured silver.
Earlier, Schwinghammer had defeated Katharine Ramsauer of Austria and Yuki Kajiwara of Japan to advance to the quarterfinals.
Perrine Laffont of France captured the top honours in the final, while the bronze medal went to Hannah Soar of the U.S.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 4, 2023.
