Canada’s Mikaël Kingsbury raced to a dual moguls gold medal on home snow on Saturday, collecting in Val Saint-Côme, Que., for his third victory in four World Cup stops in the discipline this season.
The 31-year-old Deux-Montagne, Que., native defeated Filip Gravenfors of Sweden, now boasting 85 World Cup wins — the most ever for a moguls skier. Australia’s Matt Graham took bronze.
Kingsbury bounced back from a disappointing session on Friday, which saw him finish 13th in the moguls event.
Vaillancourt, from Drummondville, Que., concluded that race in second place.
“I know I shot myself in the foot [yesterday], but I went back home, did amazing work with my team… I was quite quick in my warmups, so I knew I was going to feel good,” Kingsbury said after the victory.
Vaillancourt was ninth on Saturday, followed by fellow Canadian Julien Viel in tenth. Samuel Goodison (12th) and Louis-David Chalifoux (15th) also cracked the top 15.
“This is a course that I love. I love training here, I know this course very well. But the way it was built this year was not quite to my advantage. Super long bumps, long distance… It’s tougher for lighter skiers, and we saw yesterday with a podium with all six-foot guys.”
The moguls and dual moguls World Cups return next week in Waterville Valley, N.H.
