It only took 24 hours for Mikaël Kingsbury to regain the top step of the podium. The day after his second place in moguls, the world champion won the event alongside the World Cup in Idre Fjäll, Sweden.
Five races, five wins and a 76e World Cup medal. The Quebecer started this perfect day by winning against Frenchman Martin Suire, then against his compatriot Julien Viel, from Mont Sainte-Anne, who was in his first duels on the circuit on Sunday.
Kingsbury then edged Finland’s Severi Vierela and American Cole McDonald to advance to the Grand Final. The skier from Deux-Montagnes faced the young Swede Filip Gravenfors for the gold medal. It was the closest clash for the Canadian, who underlined the speed of his opponent, aged only 18.
“He is really fast on the track! Filip gave me a hard time, I skied well in the center and at a certain point I couldn’t see him beside me. I have a lot of respect for what he did,” said the winner.
Gravenfors was indeed the first to cross the finish line, but the judges awarded more points to the “King of the Moguls” and awarded him the victory. The American Nick Page won bronze by winning the small final ahead of Cole McDonald.
“It was tricky at times because you pick up a lot of speed in the middle, but congratulations to Filip, he’s really fast,” added Kingsbury. I’m happy to take the yellow leader’s jersey in this event. It’s going well so far, two first places and a second! »
In addition to Kingsbury and Julien Viel (13e), Elliot Vaillancourt (Drummondville) also reached the round of 16 on Sunday. He was eliminated by the eventual silver medalist to place 14ea personal best in the World Cup.
Daniel Tanner of Calgary also made his dual moguls debut and took 19e rank. Gabriel Dufresne (Joliette) and Alexandre Lavoie (Quebec) finished 26e and 40e.
Among the women, Saskatchewan’s Maïa Schwinghammer and Quebec’s Laurianne Desmarais-Gilbert were unable to make it through the quarter-finals of this first parallel event of the season. They finished 17e and 21e.
American Elizabeth Lemley won gold against Japanese Anri Kawamura, while French Perrine Laffont took third place on the podium.
The next World Cup will take place in a week in France, in Alpe d’Huez.