Mikael Kingsbury seals 6th straight Crystal Globe with moguls gold
Andi Naude takes bronze in women's competition
Mikael Kingsbury led Canada to three medals at a World Cup moguls competition Saturday in Tazawako, Japan.
The skier from Deux-Montagnes, Que., won gold in the men's event with a score of 89.99.
His 39th career win assured him of the overall title and sixth consecutive Crystal globe, but he also broke Eric Laboureix' record for the most victories overall in freestyle skiing on the FIS World Cup circuit.
"The moguls were not easy today but it kept get getting better with every run," Kingsbury said. "I followed the plan and did a cork 1080 on the top air and a cork 720 on the bottom. It was the first time that I did it this way in single moguls competition and it earned me a better air score. I think that I will do the same again in the future."
Teammate Philippe Marquis of Quebec City was second with 86.37 while Benjamin Cavet of France was third at 85.62.
"I had a great day today," Marquis said. "It feels great to win a second medal in a row after my silver at Pyeongchang last week, where I also skied very well, but it feels even better to know that we have made the right decisions. The snow was really sticky today; we had to be strategic and it paid off."
Simon Pouliot-Cavanagh of Quebec City was 13th, Marc-Antoine Gagnon of Terrebonne, Que., was 14th, Calgary's Luke Ulsifer was 31st and Laurent Dumais of Quebec City was 37th.
On the women's side, Andi Naude of Penticton, B.C., won bronze, finishing behind Australia's Britteny Cox and France's Perrine Laffont with 76.37 points.
"I did three solid runs, two of them with a back full on the top air," Naude said. "Tomorrow, we'll compete in duals here and I am looking forward to be back on the course."
Chloe Dufour-Lapointe of Montreal was fifth, Audrey Robichaud of Quebec City was eighth, Alex-Anne Gagnon of Terrebonne, Que., was 12th, Montreal's Maxime Dufour-Lapointe was 13th and Justine Dufour-Lapointe of Montreal was 33rd.
With files from CBC Sports