Mikaël Kingsbury regained the podium in singles, but not the top step. The hard worker from Deux-Montagnes took third place in the Alpe d’Huez World Cup on Friday.
The last finalist to set off, the 29-year-old Quebecer made a mistake that cost him dearly when he landed his second jump.
His score of 81.34 points did not allow him to overtake the Japanese Ikuma Horishima (87.84) and Daichi Hara (82.96), respectively first and second. However, he was able to sneak past the other Japanese finalist, Kusoke Sugimoto, credited with 79 points.
“Of course I’m a little disappointed with the result, but it’s a long season and I have time to catch up,” Kingsbury commented a few minutes after the podium ceremony, his 95e in 114 departures on the circuit.
Winner of the inaugural Ruka event on December 4, the Olympic champion finished eighth last week in Idre Fjäll, his worst ranking in 10 years in singles. However, he bounced back the next day with a parallel victory, his 67e in the World Cup.
Leader of the qualification and the first final at Alpe d’Huez, Kingsbury was again by far the fastest in the super final, hurtling down the slope almost two seconds faster than the other five finalists. But his speed on the second jump unsettled him a bit and he landed on the back of his skis on landing.
“For sure I heard Ikuma’s score at the top. 87. I knew I had made that score in Final 1. I felt good at the top of the course, but maybe I got into the bottom jump a little too quickly, which made me land a little too far. This is where it played out a lot. ”
Kingsbury revealed he had been in trouble all week on the second jump, the landing pad of which was a bit too flat for his liking. So he played it safe all day with an off-center jump of 720 rather than 1080 like Horishima. The strategy worked in qualifying and in Final 1, but not in the super final.
“I decided to go there a bit for the sake of time, but I went a little too hard in the super final at the bottom of the course. But overall I’m happy with the way I’m skiing and I feel in the starting gate. ”
Horishima retains the yellow jersey leader in the singles World Cup cumulative, increasing his lead by 40 points over the Canadian (260 to 192).
Obviously, this is not the result that I want. The season is long, but I will push until the end. I know I’m falling behind Ikuma in the standings a bit, but I still like my chances.
Mikael kingsbury
Kingsbury will have the opportunity to recover on Saturday with the second parallel of the season. “I did well in a duel against Idre Fjäll and I’m excited for tomorrow. It’s another day so I’ll try to ski a little better. ”
Horishima was happy to reconnect with compatriot Hara on the podium, but a little disappointed that Sugimoto was unable to complete the Japanese sweep. “Kingsbury made a little mistake, I thought that was it. The next goal is to do that at the Olympics, ”he laughed.
Kerrian Chunlaud was the only other Canadian to reach the first final reserved for the first 16. Second fastest behind Kingsbury, the Sainte-Foy skier lost some of his style in the middle of the course. It resulted in the 11e rank, his best result since the opening competition last winter, in December 2020.
In women, Toronto’s Berkley Brown was the top Canadian, placing 15e of the first final where she fell after the first jump.
Chloé Dufour-Lapointe (20e), Sofiane Gagnon (23e), Justine Dufour-Lapointe (35e) and Maia Schwinghammer (did not finish) stopped in qualifying contested during the morning.
Australian Jakara Anthony easily won with 85.97 points, a priority of more than eight points over Japan’s Anri Kawamura (77.21) and American Tess Johnson (76.64). It was a fourth consecutive podium and Anthony’s first victory since the start of the season.
The super final was darkened by the heavy fall of the French Perrine Laffont, hit in the ribs. The Olympic champion will decide later if she lines up for the parallel event on Saturday, where she achieved the second score in qualifying.