Calgary, Alberta March 8, 2024 – The FIS Freestyle World Cup event in Almaty witnessed Mikael Kingsbury clinching his 88th World Cup gold medal, capping off the 2023-24 single moguls competition season in grand style.
Friday’s showdown unfolded as a nail-biting clash between the world Number 1 and 2, Ikuma Horishima and Mikael Kingsbury. The atmosphere was reminiscent of the thrilling battle for FIS mogul globes in 2014 when Kingsbury narrowly edged out his teammate Alex Bilodeau by 11 points.
Heading into the final competition of the 2023-24 season, Horishima held a 30-point lead in the standings, requiring Kingsbury to deliver a flawless performance if he had any hope of passing him for the title. The Canadian faced the challenge head-on, Mikael exited the starting gate as the second-to-last athlete in the big final and delivered a mighty score of 84.89 points.
Horishima, the last athlete of the day to start, executed an equally impressive run, earning him 83.48 points. Although it wasn’t enough to claim the top spot on at the event, the second place performance was enough for the Japanese mogul skier to secure a well-deserved Crystal Globe as the overall winner, rounding off an outstanding season.
The victory on the day marked Kingsbury’s 88th World Cup triumph, continuing to update his list of accomplishments in the record books.
Canadians Julian Viel and Elliot Vaillancourt reached the finals, resulting in 11th and 16th places, respectively. On the women’s side, Maia Schwinghammer also reached the finals, securing 13th place.
With the single moguls events completed for the year, the FIS Freestyle World Cup action in Almaty is set to continue on Saturday with the penultimate dual moguls event of the season. The preliminary rounds are scheduled for 11:25 local time, with the finals once again set for 13:30.
