CHIESA IN VALMALENCO, Italy — Canadian moguls king Mikaël Kingsbury captured the silver medal and teammate Julien Viel earned bronze in dual moguls competition on Saturday in Italy.
Japan's Ikuma Horishima edged Kingsbury 18-17 in the final.
“I’m really happy with my day, even though I’ve been having trouble with this course since the first day of training," said Kingsbury. "This type of course doesn’t bring out the best of me as a skier. But my competitive side allowed me to go all the way, and the final race was close. I’m very happy to have finished in second place."
While it was Kingsbury's 113th career podium finish, it was a first for Viel.
The young Canadian defeated American Dylan Walczyk 21-14 in the small final to pick up his first World Cup medal in just his 11th career race.
His previous best World Cup performance was ninth in the moguls race held Feb. 2 in Deer Valley, Utah.
“My objective today was to complete my races with minimal errors, and just to have a good time. That was my main goal, and it paid off,” said the 21-year-old skier from Lévis Que, who earlier lost to Kingsbury in the semifinal.
“This was the second time I raced Mikaël in my career. He’s the best in the world, so my aim was to race as well as I could, and hope for the best before the last run of the day. It was awesome to be on the podium with him afterwards.”
The 30-year-old Kingsbury may have lost the grand final to Horishima on Saturday but he still holds an insurmountable lead over his Japanese rival in the race for the Crystal Globe. With only two events left on the calendar, Kingsbury has 802 overall moguls points, 224 more than Horishima.
“I increased my lead a bit for the (Crystal Globe) in duals, and I think I’m in a good position to win it. I’ll be able to focus on that after the world championships, and I’ll take time to train for it when I’m home for a few weeks,” said Kingsbury.
The World Cup moguls season concludes March 17-20 in Almaty, Kazakhstan.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 11, 2023.
The Canadian Press