Mikaël Kingsbury will be coming to the Freestyle Skiing World Championships, which will be held from February 19 to March 5 at the resort of Bakouriani, Georgia, pumped up. It’s the least we can say.
The 30-year-old hard worker not only set a new mark in his sport in his last competition, but his name finds its way into an exclusive group, ahead of legends such as Mikaela Shiffrin, Roger Federer and Tiger Woods, among others. .
That’s because by virtue of finishing second in dual moguls at Chiesa di Valmalenco, Italy, last week, Kingsbury secured the crystal globe in the cumulative standings, which includes points accumulated in moguls and moguls in parallel.
It was then his 23e crystal globe, which allowed him to surpass the absolute mark in his sport that until then belonged to the Swiss Conny Kissling.
“Yeah, lately it’s been good. My bouldering in North America paid off for me, and also in Italy with my second place, so I feel good, body is good and I feel ready for the World Championships,” Kingsbury said via videoconference. Italy, where he is currently taking part in a preparation camp for the Worlds.
The athlete from Deux-Montagnes had already won the crystal globe in the individual event, and if he finishes seventh in dual moguls in Kazakhstan on March 18, then he will complete the hat trick in the discipline.
In addition, he has 78 wins in 133 career starts on the World Cup circuit so far, for a success rate of 58.6 percent. This is higher than that of Shiffrin (35.3), Federer (28.1) and Woods (22.1), in particular.
optimism
It is therefore in a good state of mind that he will present himself in Georgia at the end of the month.
After all, Kingsbury is a subscriber to the podiums at the World Freestyle Skiing Championships. In 12 career starts, he found himself on one of the first three steps 11 times – including six times on the highest.
He will also try to register a third consecutive double at the Freestyle Skiing World Championships, even if he is completely unfamiliar with the facilities of Bakouriani.
“The ‘fun’ with new tracks that nobody knows is that they often benefit those who are able to adapt quickly,” Kingsbury said confidently. But I like being in unfamiliar places, because that’s often where I perform best. »
The “King of Moguls” took the honors in the individual event and the parallel event in Almaty, Kazakhstan, in March 2021, as well as in Deer Valley, Utah, in February 2019.
“I know everything I’ve done in the past at the World Championships is amazing; I did not miss the podium in singles. So I’m motivated, and I feel good on my skis. […] I’m approaching the moment when I will peak, things are going really well, and I intend to use all my past experience at the Worlds (to be successful this time around), ”said the Olympic mogul champion in Pyeongchang in 2018.
The trend is likely to continue in Georgia as Kingsbury has assured that he is no longer bothered by a sprained left wrist he suffered after suffering a nasty fall in training on the sidelines of the Cup. world of Deer Valley earlier this month.
“Right now, I ski with tape around my wrist. It doesn’t bother me too much. It was a bit more difficult in Deer Valley, because I was wearing a brace and there was really a lot of tape around my wrist preventing me from having good mobility. But I put less and less, and I am more and more able to absorb the impacts. […] I should be close to 100 percent for the World Championships,” he said.
The individual moguls event will take place on February 25, and the dual moguls will take place the following day.