Mikaël Kingsbury killed two birds with one stone at the Freestyle Skiing World Cup in Tremblant on Friday: he climbed to the top of the podium and slashed 40 points ahead of Japanese Ikuma Horishima at the top of the standings for the crystal globe.
The 29-year-old hard worker scored 86.24 in the super final to beat Swedes Walter Wallberg (84.65) and Horishima (83.17).
This is a second victory this season for the Deux-Montagnes skier, a victory that allows him to come closer to 38 points from the Japanese, who leads 320 to 292.
“It’s a good deal,” said Kingsbury, for whom it is a 69e World Cup victory, a record that he improves with each triumph. We must continue to narrow the gap or go find it. One of my goals this year is to arrive at the Games with the yellow jersey [de meneur]. I don’t know if they will count the general or the simple. It doesn’t matter: the goal is to be first everywhere. “
Kingsbury, who also finished first in qualifying and the final, leads the overall standings by virtue of his dominance in the parallel moguls standings.
Starting last in this super final, the Quebecer made an almost perfect descent, which could have been even better, according to him. “It’s a great victory, but I can ski even better. I still have gas in the tank. [Vendredi], we were smart. [Samedi], if guys open up the machine, I still have plenty of room to do more. “
Especially for his first jump. “I have a double twist jump at the top, but my single was getting good scores from the judges, so what’s the point of risking a more difficult jump and maybe getting fewer points in the end? I may not have done enough, but I’m ready to do it [samedi] if I need it. I was ready to do it [vendredi] : I was waiting to hear Ikuma’s pointing. When I heard 83 I knew I was 84 on the downhill before and it wasn’t my best ski. “
First for Dufresne
Gabriel Dufresne achieved his best result in singles by taking the 10e place, which is not to harm him in the complex process of Olympic qualification.
Kingsbury and Dufresne were also accompanied by three other Canadians in the final: Laurent Dumais, who was in his first competition this season after recovering from a back injury, finished 15e. Brenden Kelly and Jordan Kober preceded him in the final standings.
“Physically, it was stiff. I had difficulties in training, my body took a lot of shocks; I had to manage in the final. […] I’m bruised at the moment, ”said Dumais, who will decide on Saturday morning whether he will take part in the second stage of this World Cup.
Dufresne did not fail to highlight the Canadian performance a few days after ex-worker Dominick Gauthier called for a complete overhaul of the national moguls program, which he believes has been overtaken by other nations.
“I’ll say this: we had five Canadians in the final out of 16, with 53 competitors in the running. It is certain that we do not have many podiums apart from Mikaël this season, but it is a step in the right direction. We will give everything in the next three races to show that we are not that lost. “
Alexandre Lavoie, Ryan Portello, Olivier Lessard and Daniel Tanner followed respectively at 37e, 38e, 42e and 46e ranks.
Among the women, Justine Dufour-Lapointe obtained the best Canadian result with a ninth place. Her older sister, Chloe, concluded the competition in 14e position.
If Justine is practically assured of an Olympic qualification by virtue of her results last year, Chloe really needed this participation in the final. “I am proud to have pushed: I want to enter the top-6, and it’s by doing downhills like that that I’m going to get there, ”said Chloe.
As for Justine, she feels that she is gradually regaining her cruising speed. “I still have a few details to fine-tune to succeed in a cork perfect and land in the boots. I am convinced I can do this [samedi]. “
The Japanese Anri Kawamura (81.76), the French Perrine Laffont (81.43) and the American Tess Johnson (79.25) climbed in order on the three steps of the podium.
Canadians Berkley Brown, Maia Schwinghammer and Valérie Gilbert finished 18 respectivelye, 19e and 20e.