(Montreal) “The best is yet to come,” said Mikaël Kingsbury last weekend, after his third place at the first Moguls World Cup of the season. The skier kept his word on Friday and won gold in Idre Fjäll, Sweden. This gain allows him to don the yellow jersey of leader in the cumulative ranking of the circuit.
True to form, the Deux-Montagnes athlete raised the level of his skiing after each round and concluded the competition with 85.02 points, far ahead of his closest rival, the American Nick Page (79.55 ). Bronze went to Swede Filip Gravenfors (79.53).
The 2018 Olympic champion decided to be smart in the grand final by using his valuable experience of 14 years in the international circuit to play his cards to perfection. To bounce back straight away, that’s what he agreed with his mental trainer Jean-François Ménard after his third place last Saturday.
“I saw in Final 1 that it pays to stay clean. Once in the super final, the scores were low and the guys were pushing a lot. Having the chance to start last, I heard all the scores and we just had to stay smart and super clean in the middle,” Kingsbury commented by videoconference. “I had a good feeling, the door was open and I jumped at the chance. I’m glad it paid off and I’m really satisfied! »
Kingsbury remained modest in his celebrations after crossing the finish line.
” We never know. This year, it’s a little more difficult to read what the judges want. I knew I had done something good, because it was better than in Final 1,” continued the man who now has 81 World Cup victories. However, this is the very first singles triumph of his career on Swedish soil.
“I was just a little faster and I liked waiting for my score better. […] Those who were in front of me in the cumulative ranking, Walter (Wallberg) and Ikuma (Horishima), finished fourth and sixth, so it’s good to go for points in those moments. »
Louis-David Chalifoux impressed with a seventh place, missing the cut of the grand final by only one place. The 21-year-old athlete, who has less than ten World Cup starts in his career, has at the same time improved his best result, having already obtained two tenth places.
Julien Viel, Elliot Vaillancourt and Gabriel Dufresne finished 15th, 19th and 25th respectively, while the only Quebecer registered, Laurianne Desmarais-Gilbert, finished in 18th place in the women’s event.
The first parallel moguls competition will take place on Saturday at the same location.