Mikael Kingsbury scores World Cup moguls gold in China
Fellow Canadian Andi Naude lands bronze in Thaiwoo
Mikael Kingsbury continued the World Cup moguls season the way he started it — by reaching the top of the podium in Thaiwoo, China, on Thursday.
The 25-year-old from Deux-Montagnes, Que., scored 83.61 points in the super final to claim the win, just ahead of Australia's Matt Graham (82.75) and Troy Murphy of the U.S. (80.57).
Two more Canadians finished in the top 10: Phillippe Marquis was eighth (77.03) and Marc-Antoine Gagnon of Montreal finished 10th (76.07).
With Thurday's win, Kingsbury has now captured nine consecutive World Cup wins and upped his career total to 44.
"Once again I was able to change gears at the right time and I did my best run in the super final," Kingsbury said. "I made a few little mistakes in the final but it still put me in fourth for the super final. And that's when I had my best run.
On the women's side, Canada's Andi Naude will bring home a bronze medal.
The Penticton, B.C., native scored 77.64, just behind American Jaelin Kauf (77.90) and Yulia Galysheva of Kazakhstan (77.79).
"Being able to ski in the three rounds from qualification to final and super final was my goal and also to stick to the process and ski my best every single run," Naude said. "I am really excited to have been able to use my backfull in all three runs. Obviously the harder degree of difficulty is really valuable."
Canada's Justine Dufour-Lapointe finished just off the podium in fourth place, scoring 76.65.
Wahoooo! Beyond excited to finish on the podium today alongside these two ladies! <a href="https://t.co/CqyTo2lMMV">https://t.co/CqyTo2lMMV</a>
—@andi_naudeCompetition continues in Thaiwoo on Friday.