Kingsbury gunning for 14th straight win at Mont-Tremblant moguls World Cup

Mikael Kingsbury will try to keep his perfect season intact on the MontTremblant moguls course Saturday in the final freestyle skiing World Cup event before the 2018 Winter Olympics.

The moguls ace from DeuxMontagnes, Que., will be gunning for a 14th consecutive victory when the world’s top freestylers return to MontTremblant for the first time in 13 years. Kingsbury has not lost since he finished second to Australian Matt Graham in Calgary on Jan. 28, 2017.

He has little left to prove to the world, having already passed Americans Hannah Kearney and Donna Weinbrecht for the most career World Cup wins, men and women included, when he swept a pair of events last week at Deer Valley, Utah.

He will be going for a 49th career win.

“You know, I don’t need to try to get inside my opponents heads any more,” said Kingsbury. “They know I’m ready.

“This weekend, the main thing is to stay smart on my training runs and conserve energy. I don’t want to get hurt — look at what happened to Philippe (Marquis) — and after that I just have to do what I’ve been doing for weeks now. If I do that, I should get my 14th win in a row.”

Marquis, of Quebec City, tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee during training at Deer Valley, putting his Olympic plans in grave doubt.

An injury is about all that could stop 25-year-old Kingsbury.

David Mirota, vice-president of Freestyle Canada, said the meet this weekend offers fans a chance to see a dominant athlete at work.

“At this time, I feel there is no other athlete on the planet who dominates his sport like Mikael,” said Mirota. “It is exceptional.