Canada's Mikaël Kingsbury captures moguls silver for 8th World Cup medal of season
Reigning Olympic champ reaches podium for 2nd straight day at Deer Valley
Canada's Mikaël Kingsbury has collected yet another World Cup medal, taking silver in men's moguls in Deer Valley, Utah, on Friday.
Kingsbury finished with 82.84 points, just behind Ikuma Horishima of Japan, who scored 84.04. Sweden's Walter Wallberg came in third with 79.62 points.
Quebec City's Laurent Dumais finished 8th, followed by Brendan Kelly of Pemberton, B.C., in 9th and Gabriel Dufresne of Joliette, Que., in 10th.
It was Kingsbury's second medal in two days, coming after he made his 100th World Cup podium appearance Thursday with a gold-medal performance.
Kingsbury was in position to win gold again on Friday after posting the top score as the penultimate skier, but friendly rival Horishima beat him on the final run of the competition. Horishima finished behind Kingsbury for silver on Thursday.
"I left a door open for him for sure. I don't think I skied my absolute best, but I skied super well given the conditions. I also knew Horishima was capable and motivated. In another type of situation, I might have pushed the machine a little bit more in the middle section," Kingsbury said.
"Overall, I'm satisfied. The fact that I finished so close to the gold — without even using all my proverbial weapons - keeps me confident before the Games."
Kingsbury leads the overall World Cup moguls standings with 572 points, followed by Horishima with 560. The 29-year-old from Deux-Montagnes, Que., has eight World Cup medals this season, including six gold.
"My body feels good, I'm healthy and I'm very satisfied with my skiing - especially on a run as difficult as Deer Valley. So far, it's been a great start to the season, with an incredible January," Kingsbury said.
He is the reigning Olympic champion in men's moguls and will be a favourite when he heads to his third Winter Games in Beijing next month.
WATCH | Kingsbury wins World Cup moguls gold:
Japan's Kawamura tops women's podium
Japan's Anri Kawamura won moguls gold in the women's competition with 80.89 points — a day after claiming silver.
Australia's Jakara Anthony improved upon Thursday's bronze-medal performance by winning silver (80.38 points), while France's Perrine Laffont took bronze with a score of 80.02.
Montreal's Chloé Dufour-Lapointe finished 15th with 71.96 points as the top Canadian in the women's event, and Maia Schwinghammer of Saskatoon also cracked the top-20 by finishing 18th (66.21).
Whistler, B.C.'s Sofiane Gagnon, Montreal's Justine Dufour-Lapointe and Aurora, Ont.'s Berkley Brown finished 22nd, 23rd and 25th, respectively.
With files from CBC Sports
