(Bak’Uriani, Georgia) Quebecer Mikaël Kingsbury won the bronze medal in the moguls event of the Freestyle Ski World Cup in Bakuriani on Friday.
The athlete from Deux-Montagnes collected 75.21 points. He was beaten by the Japanese Ikuma Horishima (77.11) and the Swede Filip Gravenfors (75.85).
Quebecers Julien Viel (73.16), Elliot Vaillancourt (71.64) and Louis-David Chalifoux (71.45) finished in fifth, eighth and ninth places respectively.
After dominating the qualifications and the first final, Kingsbury started the grand final well, but missed his last jump. A situation he attributes to changing conditions.
“It was a good day overall,” Kingsbury said. It’s really positive. I probably had my best qualifying of the season. Then, for the finals, I knew I had the skiing and the pace to perform well. I had a really good Final 1, good jumps, among the fastest times.
“It started to snow a little between the first final and the super final. I knew the snow had changed. I felt it in final 1, and during the super final, it was similar. I had a good jump at the top, I did a great middle. And in the bottom jump, I felt like I stuck. When you get into the snow a little wetter, you feel that it slows you down. So I didn’t manage to take off well, which meant that my jump was a little botched and my landing not as good. »
This is a fourth podium in this discipline in as many World Cup stages for Kingsbury this season. The world champion has two victories, ahead of Horishima by 20 points in the World Cup standings.
“I could have gone for a win,” Kingsbury said. So I’m disappointed and angry with myself. I could have adapted a little better. It’s not bad luck, but it’s the kind of jump where you want to go back. Especially when it’s the only jump you miss all weekend. »
The athletes will return to action on Saturday with the moguls event in parallel before the holiday break.
“This will be the last race before Christmas for us,” Kingsbury explained. Everyone’s a little tired, that’s for sure. We’ve been on the road for a month. But it’s in these moments that it happens between the two ears. I will do the best I can. »