While some freestyle skiers dream of competing in a hundred World Cup moguls events over the course of their entire careers, Mikaël Kingsbury of Deux-Montagnes, QC, just reached the podium for the 100th time with a gold medal win in Deer Valley, Utah.
As the second-to-last starter in the super final, the Québécois scored 83.28 points, putting all the pressure on the final racer, Ikuma Horishima of Japan, who was not able to beat Kingsbury’s score,
“I’m really happy with my day. It’s my fourth win in a row. The course here at Deer Valley is not easy. It’s one of the toughest in the world, especially with the warm weather conditions today (Thursday). The battle against Ikuma (81.98 points) was a good one. It’s nice to be on top of the track with him,” said Kingsbury moments after his win.
Kosuke Sugimoto of Japan took third place with 79.02 points.
Following his win, Kingsbury took a moment to dedicate his victory to American George McQuinn, who suffered a violent crash during the final round.
“I’m sending George all my positive energy and I’d like to dedicate this win to him. I wish him all the best. We’re all thinking of him.”
Laurent Dumais (Quebec City, QC) and Gabriel Dufresne (Repentigny, QC) both advanced to the first final, where they finished 11th and 13th, respectively.
Brenden Kelly (Pemberton, BC) and Jordan Kober (Penticton, BC) were both halted in the qualifiers and finished 26th and 37th.
In the women’s competition, sisters Chloé and Justine Dufour-Lapointe (Montréal, QC) qualified for the first final.
Unfortunately, Chloe’s 71.73 points (13th) and Justine’s 72.78 points (9th) did not allow them to advance to the super final.
Berkley Brown (Aurora, ON) and Maia Schwinghammer (Saskatoon, SK) finished 17th and 18th, less than a point behind the 16th place finisher and final skier to move on to the first final.
Sofiane Gagnon (Whistler, BC), who did not compete in the last World Cup event in Mont-Tremblant, took 34th place at Deer Valley today.
The skiers will hit the slopes again on Friday for the last World Cup moguls event before the Beijing Olympics.
