Mikael Kingsbury opens moguls season with 50th World Cup victory
Canada's Justine Dufour-Lapointe finishes 6th on women's side
Canadian freestyle skier Mikael Kingsbury earned his 50th career World Cup victory on Friday with a gold medal in moguls at the season-opening stop on the circuit.
Kingsbury, from Deux-Montagnes, Que., won with a final-run score of 88.14.
Benjamin Cavet of France was second with 86.45 and Sweden's Walter Wallberg was third with 82.38.
Watch Mikael Kingsbury continue his domination in men's moguls:
"[Cavet] had 86 points, which I'd scored in the first run of the final, so I knew I had to do a perfect second run," said Kingsbury. "Especially since my strategy was to just go with a big 'back full.' I was able to do a clean run in the super final, a really fast run with no mistakes."
Kingsbury picked up where he left off last season.
The 26-year-old won his first Olympic gold medal at the Pyeongchang Olympics in February, along with two Crystal Globes for finishing first in moguls and tops among all freestyle skiers on the 2017-18 World Cup tour.
"I'm really happy with my day. I felt good from start to finish," added Kingsbury. "It's a great way to start the season when you already have the yellow bib [eader in the general rankings]."
Watch Kingsbury discuss his strong start:
The win marked Kingsbury's 74th medal on the FIS circuit. He already owns the record for most career wins.
The other Canadian athlete in the final, Laurent Dumais, finished in 11th place.
Canadian and 2014 Olympic champion Justine Dufour-Lapointe finished sixth on women's side. Justine was the only Canadian skier among the women to qualify for the final.
Chloé Dufour-Lapointe finished 20th, two spots behind Sofiane Gagnon, 18th.
The next leg of the World Cup for Canadian mogul athletes is December 15 and 16 in Thaiwoo, China.