Mikaël Kingsbury

Mikaël Kingsbury (born 24 July 1992) is a Canadian freestyle skier and is the most accomplished mogul skier of all time. He achieved eminence early in his career after earning the 2009–10 FIS World Cup Rookie of the Year award. He is the seven-time reigning FIS Freestyle World Cup title-holder for both moguls and overall freestyle, owning the records for most men's Moguls World Cup titles and Overall Freestyle World Cup titles. He also owns the records for career World Cup moguls victories with 53, and consecutive Freestyle World Cup event wins with 13.[1][2] He is the first man to have won both the moguls and dual moguls World Championship events, and has won the most medals at the Freestyle World Championships of any male competitor in history, having won a medal in 7 of the 8 events. Kingsbury won the Olympic silver medal in 2014, and, at the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics, he won the gold medal as Olympic champion of men's moguls.[3]

Mikaël Kingsbury
Alpine skier
Kingsbury at the 2015 FIS World Cup Finals in Megève
DisciplinesFreestyle skiing, Moguls
Born (1992-07-24) 24 July 1992
Sainte-Agathe-des-Monts, Quebec
Height1.75 m (5 ft 9 in)
World Cup debut1 January 2010
(age 17)
Olympics
Teams2 (2014, 2018)
Medals2 (1 gold)
World Championships
Teams5 (2011–2019)
Medals9 (4 gold)
World Cup
Seasons8 – (2010–2018)
Wins62
Podiums89
Overall titles7 – (2012–2018)
Discipline titles7 – Moguls (2012–2018)
Medal record
International freestyle ski competitions
Event 1st 2nd 3rd
Olympic Games 1 1 0
World Championships 4 3 2
Total 5 4 2
Men's Freestyle skiing
Representing  Canada
Olympic Games
2018 PyeongchangMoguls
2014 SochiMoguls
World Championships
2013 VossMoguls
2015 KreischbergDual moguls
2019 Park CityMoguls
2019 Park CityDual moguls
2011 Deer ValleyDual moguls
2013 VossDual moguls
2015 KreischbergMoguls
2011 Deer ValleyMoguls
2017 Sierra NevadaMoguls

Career

Early success

After several seasons of competition in the Nor-Am Cup, Kingsbury enjoyed much greater success in 2010, winning 4 moguls and 1 dual moguls event before finishing the year on the World Cup circuit with two consecutive 4th-place finishes. For these efforts, he was named the 2009–10 FIS World Cup Rookie of the Year.[4]

Kingsbury earned his first World Cup podium in the first moguls event of his first full World Cup season, then followed this up with his first World Cup win on 21 December 2010.[5] With the victory, he became the first 18-year-old to win a FIS Freestyle World Cup event.[6]

Kingsbury continued his breakthrough season with one more World Cup event win and 5 additional medals, finishing the 2010–11 FIS Freestyle Skiing World Cup season 4th overall and 3rd in the moguls discipline, behind countryman Alexandre Bilodeau and winner Guilbaut Colas. In the midst of this season, he competed in his first 2011 FIS World Championships, and began with a bronze medal in the moguls event behind Bilodeau and winner Colas.[7] In the dual moguls event, Kingsbury fell in the final pairing, again finishing behind Bilodeau, this time for the silver medal. Reflecting on his first World Championships, Kingsbury stated: "I never thought at the beginning of the season that I'd be able to be two times on the podium at Deer Valley, the hardest course in the world. Alex, since I was young was my example to follow, it's awesome to be in the final against him."[8]

First World Cup and World Championship titles

Kingsbury won six consecutive World Cup events to start the 2011–2012 season.[9] While the streak ended with a second-place finish in the next event, Kingsbury became only the second man to podium at every FIS freestyle competition in a season, with eight golds, four silvers, and a bronze. In doing so, he won his first FIS Freestyle Crystal Globe for moguls, as well as the overall Crystal Globe for all freestyle disciplines.[10] "I never thought I would've been able to do this at 19 years old," Kingsbury later remarked. "But this season I've skied great, I've been consistent every race and I think that was the key for me."[11]

To date, this remains his most successful World Cup season in terms of wins, podiums, and points, and his achievements during the season broke or matched several FIS records. Kingsbury's 90.77 overall points were the most achieved in a men's FIS Freestyle World Cup season since 2003. With 1180 of a maximum of 1300 points in moguls, he set a men's FIS Freestyle World Cup record for the most points in a season in an individual discipline. He became the youngest male mogul skier to win a Crystal Globe, and set a record for the most podiums in a season (13), in addition to matching the record held by American Jeremy Bloom for the most consecutive World Cup wins at six.[10]

Mikael added six victories in the 2012–13 season, in addition to one 2nd-place and two 3rd-place finishes for a total of 9 podiums in 12 events. His performance earned him both his second FIS title in moguls, as well as his second consecutive overall Crystal Globe.

At the 2013 FIS Freestyle World Ski Championships, Kingsbury won his first World Championship title in the moguls event after he also qualified first; teammate Bilodeau placed second. This was the opportunity Kingsbury had been waiting his life for he said that "I have been waiting a while for this and dreaming about the day that I would earn the world championship title. I worked hard all summer to get to this day and I’m very happy. When I woke up this morning I was in a world championship mood. I felt perfect. My body was perfect, so I knew it could be today."[12] Kingsbury next competed in the dual moguls finals where he would find himself in the final matchup against teammate Bilodeau again. He again failed to beat him, this still left him as the silver medalist completing a second double medal World Championships.[13]

Surpassing Brassard

During the 2013–14 season, Mikael began the season with 3 consecutive victories. However, Canadian teammate Bilodeau, who had finished 2nd in each of the first three races, experienced a resurgence and won the next 3 world cup events to overtake Kingsbury in both FIS World Cup Moguls and overall standings.

At the Sochi Olympics, Kingsbury had a small stumble in his final run to finish with 24.71, finishing second to Bilodeau's 26.31, and collecting his first Olympic medal.[14] After winning his first Olympic medal Kingsbury said "I was going for gold, but just to be on the podium is crazy and I am with my teammate, it's just unbelievable."[14] Based on his World Cup results he was a gold medal favourite but Kingsbury was surpassed by Bilodeau who surprised again for gold.

Following the Olympic performance, Kingsbury finished 3rd, 1st, and 4th, respectively, in the next 3 events, while Bilodeau finished 4th, 9th, and 2nd, setting up an important dual moguls final between the two rivals in the second last event of the season, on 16 March 2014. At the age of 21, Kingsbury defeated Bilodeau in the final for his 21st career win, in the process moving him past childhood role-model Jean-Luc Brassard for most World Cup wins by a Canadian (during this same event, Bilodeau's silver medal tied Brassard for most World Cup medals by a Canadian).[15]

Entering the final event of the season, Kingsbury now led Bilodeau by 3 points for the Men's overall freestyle title, and by 31 points for the Men's mogul's title. In the final event, the two once again faced off in the dual moguls final. Bilodeau retired with a win over Kingsbury, stating that he was "really honoured to have [his] last run against the best in the world." [16] Kingsbury added another silver medal, and ultimately edged Bilodeau by 1 point for the overall freestyle title and 11 points for the Men's mogul title; at 890 points and 879 points respectively, Kingsbury and Bilodeau finished the season with double the points of third overall Patrick Deneen.[17]

World Cup records

The FIS had suggested prior to the start of the 2014–15 season that "with Bilodeau now out of the picture, the story of the... season will be whether somebody, anybody, will be able to challenge Mikael Kingsbury's claim to moguls supremacy." [18] Kingsbury answered this question with what the Canadian Freestyle Association considered to be "arguably one of the most prolific and impressive seasons in freestyle history," [19] punctuated by a 19–16 victory over teammate Philippe Marquis in the dual moguls finals of the 8th event of the World Cup season in Tazawako, Japan. In doing so, Kingsbury won his record 7th straight FIS World Cup moguls event after starting the season with a disappointing 9th-place finish, breaking the previous record of six consecutive wins that he had shared with Jeremy Bloom.[19] This win was also the 28th FIS Freestyle Skiing World Cup victory of Kingsbury's young career, tying him with Frenchman Edgar Grospiron for first on the all-time list. At age 22, Kingsbury reached the milestone in 60 World Cup events compared to Grospiron's 78.[19]

By this point Kingsbury had already clinched his 4th straight moguls season title after winning the moguls ev"ent in Tazawako the day prior. Unfortunately, in the final event of the season, he suffered an uncharacteristic crash in his quarter final heat and finished 8th.[20] Despite falling short, his performance helped Canada claim the moguls Nations Cup and the FIS Freestyle overall Nations cup, the latter in an incredibly tight battle finishing only 54 points ahead of the USA. Kingbsury also finished the day with the moguls and Freestyle overall crystal globes for the fourth straight season.[21]

In the midst of his successful World Cup season, Kingsbury won his first World Championship title in the dual moguls event, over Canadian teammates Philippe Marquis and Marc-Antoine Gagnon. This was the first time a country has swept the podium in the history of the dual moguls event at World Championships. He was unable to defend his gold in the moguls event, finishing second to Anthony Benna after finishing first in qualification and leading into Final 2.[22] His 2nd place showing still ensured that his streak of six consecutive podium finishes at the World Championships would continue.

Kingsbury had to wait nearly 9 months for another opportunity to set the men's record for World Cup moguls skiing victories. He made good on this chance at the 2015–16 season-opening dual moguls event in Finland, by defeating Benjamin Cavet of France 20–15 in the finals, en route to claiming the moguls and Freestyle overall crystal globes for the fifth straight season.[1] During the 2016–17 season, Kingsbury became the first skier to sweep the single and dual moguls competitions in Deer Valley for a second time. In the dual moguls, he beat his opponents by a combined score of 144–31 to earn his 58th men's World Cup podium, surpassing Edgar Grospiron for most all-time while extending his all-time record for wins to 37.[23]

In January 2018, Kingsbury set a new record for the most World Cup wins, surpassing Hannah Kearney of the US at 47. The next month, Kingsbury won his elusive Olympic gold medal in Pyongchang with a score of 86.63.[24] On 11 December, Kingsbury was rewarded for his record-setting season when he was awarded the Lou Marsh Trophy, honouring Canada's top athlete of the year.[25] This was followed by The Canadian Press' male athlete of the year Lionel Conacher Award on 27 December; in both cases he was the first freestyle skier to win the award.[26]

Results

Olympic results
Year Moguls
2014 Sochi2
2018 Pyeongchang1

World Championship results
Date Location Discipline Event Result[27]
2 February 2011 Deer Valley, Utah, United States Moguls 2011 Freestyle World Championships Bronze
5 February 2011 Deer Valley, Utah, United States Dual Moguls 2011 Freestyle World Championships Silver
6 March 2013 Voss-Myrdalen, Norway Moguls 2013 Freestyle World Championships Gold
8 March 2013 Voss-Myrdalen, Norway Dual Moguls 2013 Freestyle World Championships Silver
18 January 2015 Kreischberg, Austria Moguls 2015 Freestyle World Championships Silver
19 January 2015 Kreischberg, Austria Dual Moguls 2015 Freestyle World Championships Gold
8 March 2017 Sierra Nevada, Spain Moguls 2017 Freestyle World Championships Bronze
9 March 2017 Sierra Nevada, Spain Dual Moguls 2017 Freestyle World Championships 13th
8 February 2019 Deer Valley, Utah, United States Moguls 2019 Freestyle World Championships Gold
8 February 2019 Deer Valley, Utah, United States Dual Moguls 2019 Freestyle World Championships Gold

World Cup results
Tournament Discipline Events Started Best Finish Wins Podiums Points Final Position
2009–10 Moguls 5/10 4 0 0 116 22
2010–11 Moguls 11/11 1 2 8 725
2011–12 Moguls 13/13 1 8 13 1180
2012–13 Moguls 12/12 1 6 9 940
2013–14 Moguls 11/11 1 5 9 890
2014–15 Moguls 9/9 1 7 7 761
2015–16 Moguls 8/8 1 5 7 705
2016–17 Moguls 11/11 1 9 10 1020
2017–18 Moguls 10/10 1 7 10 940
2009–10 Overall N/A N/A N/A N/A 11.6 64
2010–11 Overall N/A N/A N/A N/A 65.9 4
2011–12 Overall N/A N/A N/A N/A 90.8
2012–13 Overall N/A N/A N/A N/A 78.3
2013–14 Overall N/A N/A N/A N/A 80.9
2014–15 Overall N/A N/A N/A N/A 84.6
2015–16 Overall N/A N/A N/A N/A 88.1
2016–17 Overall N/A N/A N/A N/A 92.7
2017–18 Overall N/A N/A N/A N/A 94.0

World Cup victories

Kingsbury has achieved 58 victories in the FIS Freestyle Ski World Cup.[27]

Date Location Discipline
21 December 2010 Beida Lake, China Moguls
29 January 2011 Calgary, Canada Moguls
10 December 2011 Ruka, Finland Moguls
20 December 2011 Meribel, France Dual Moguls
14 January 2012 Mont Gabriel, Canada Dual Moguls
19 January 2012 Lake Placid, United States Moguls
28 January 2012 Calgary, Canada Moguls
2 February 2012 Deer Valley, United States Moguls
12 February 2012 Beida Lake, China Moguls
18 February 2012 Naeba, Japan Moguls
15 December 2012 Ruka, Finland Dual Moguls
17 January 2013 Lake Placid, United States Moguls
26 January 2013 Calgary, Canada Moguls
31 January 2013 Deer Valley, United States Moguls
15 February 2013 Sochi, Russia Moguls
23 February 2013 Inawashiro, Japan Moguls
14 December 2013 Ruka, Finland Moguls
4 January 2014 Calgary, Canada Moguls
9 January 2014 Deer Valley, United States Moguls
2 March 2014 Inawashiro, Japan Dual Moguls
16 March 2014 Voss, Norway Dual Moguls
3 January 2015 Calgary, Canada Moguls
9 January 2015 Deer Valley, United States Moguls
10 January 2015 Deer Valley, United States Dual Moguls
29 January 2015 Lake Placid, United States Moguls
7 February 2015 Val St. Come, Quebec, Canada Moguls
28 February 2015 Tazawako, Japan Moguls
1 March 2015 Tazawako, Japan Dual Moguls
12 December 2015 Ruka, Finland Dual Moguls
23 January 2016 Val St. Come, Canada Moguls
30 January 2016 Calgary, Canada Moguls
28 February 2016 Tazawako, Japan Dual Moguls
5 March 2016 Moscow, Russia Dual Moguls
10 December 2016 Ruka, Finland Moguls
21 January 2017 Val St. Come, Canada Moguls
2 February 2017 Deer Valley, United States Moguls
4 February 2017 Deer Valley, United States Dual Moguls
11 February 2017 Phoenix Park Pyeongchang, South Korea Moguls
18 February 2017 Tazawako, Japan Moguls
19 February 2017 Tazawako, Japan Dual Moguls
25 February 2017 Thaiwoo, China Moguls
26 February 2017 Thaiwoo, China Dual Moguls
9 December 2017 Ruka, Finland Moguls
21 December 2017 Thaiwoo, China Moguls
22 December 2017 Thaiwoo, China Moguls
6 January 2018 Calgary, Canada Moguls
10 January 2018 Deer Valley, United States Moguls
11 January 2018 Deer Valley, United States Moguls
18 March 2018 Megève, France Dual Moguls
7 December 2018 Ruka, Finland Moguls
15 December 2018 Thaiwoo, China Moguls
16 December 2018 Thaiwoo, China Dual Moguls
12 January 2019 Calgary, Canada Moguls
7 December 2019 Ruka, Finland Moguls
15 December 2019 Thaiwoo, China Dual Moguls
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References
  1. "Mikael Kingsbury moves into top spot on World Cup moguls wins list". CBC Sports. 12 December 2015. Retrieved 12 December 2015.
  2. "Mikael Kingsbury ties all-time moguls World Cup wins mark". CBC Sports. 1 March 2015. Retrieved 13 December 2015.
  3. "Canada's Mikael Kingsbury wins Olympic gold in men's moguls". Toronto Star. 12 February 2018. Retrieved 12 February 2018.
  4. "Mikaël Kingsbury". Freestyle Skiing Canada. Retrieved 11 December 2010.
  5. "Kingsbury leads 4-medal charge by Canadian freestyle team". CBC Sports. 21 December 2010. Retrieved 21 December 2010.
  6. "2010: the year of "First timers"". FIS Freestyle World Cup. 21 December 2010. Archived from the original on 25 July 2011. Retrieved 21 December 2010.
  7. "Retiring Heil wins moguls world title". CBC Sports. 2 February 2011. Retrieved 4 February 2011.
  8. Terry Bell (6 February 2011). "Night races bring four more medals". Montreal Gazette. Retrieved 2 June 2011.
  9. "Canadians Kingsbury and Bilodeau finish 1–2 in World Cup moguls". Winnipeg Free Press. Retrieved 3 February 2011.
  10. "Canada takes four medals at mogul finals". Canadian Freestyle Ski Association. 18 March 2012.
  11. "Canada's Kingsbury ends dual moguls season with silver". CBC Sports. 18 March 2012. Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  12. "Canada's Kingsbury wins moguls world title, Bilodeau 2nd". CBC Sports. 6 March 2013.
  13. "Canada's Bilodeau, Dufour-Lapointe win dual moguls world championships". CBC Sports. 8 March 2013.
  14. "Canada's Alex Bilodeau wins moguls gold, teammate Mikael Kingsbury takes silver". CBC Sports. 10 February 2014. Archived from the original on 18 March 2014. Retrieved 18 March 2014.
  15. The Canadian Press (16 March 2014). "Kingsbury breaks Canadian record for World Cup mogul wins". The Sports Network.
  16. The Canadian Press (21 March 2014). "Mikael Kingsbury wins moguls title, Alex Bilodeau retires with win". CBC Sports.
  17. "Cup Standings". International Ski Federation. Retrieved 22 December 2014.
  18. "Mikael Kingsbury". International Ski Federation. Archived from the original on 24 March 2015. Retrieved 23 March 2015.
  19. "Kingsbury ties all-time FIS World Cup mogul wins record". The Canadian Freestyle Ski Association. Retrieved 23 March 2015.
  20. "Mikael Kingsbury wins 4th straight moguls season title". The Canadian Press. Missing or empty |url= (help)
  21. "Megeve dual moguls caps off 2014/15 World Cup season". International Ski Federation. Missing or empty |url= (help)
  22. Callum Ng. "Canadian roundup: Moguls skiers win six medals at World Championships". Olympic.ca. Missing or empty |url= (help)
  23. "Cox and Kingsbury reign supreme in Deer Valley duals". FIS. Retrieved 5 February 2017.
  24. "Flawless freestyler Kingsbury wins gold in men's moguls". International Olympic Committee. 15 February 2018. Retrieved 22 December 2018.
  25. "Mogul king Mikael Kingsbury adds Lou Marsh Trophy to crowded awards shelf". CBC Sports. 11 December 2018. Retrieved 22 December 2018.
  26. "Mikael Kingsbury keeps adding hardware, named CP male athlete of the year". CBC Sports. The Canadian Press. 27 December 2018. Retrieved 28 December 2018.
  27. "FIS Profile". International Ski Federation. Retrieved 22 December 2014.
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