Kingsbury is looking good
Quebec native gets off to a great start, advances to Monday’s final with 86.03
Canada’s Mikael Kingsbury took a comfortable first step Friday toward the one title he does not own, putting down the highest score of the day in the first qualifiers of the men’s moguls competition.
Kingsbury’s score of 86.03 put him straight through to Monday’s final.
“It’s nice to break the ice and do a good run right away,” Kingsbury, 25, of Sainte-Agathe-des-Monts, Que., said after his run at Phoenix Snow Park, adding that he wanted to set the tone for the rest of the field.
That he did. The most decorated freestyle skier in history and sixtime reigning World Cup moguls champ showed the rest of the men that he will be tough to beat. The steep Phoenix course raises the degree of difficulty, which gives an advantage to the best technical moguls skier in the world. Kingsbury was more than two points clear of Aleksandr Smyshlyaev of the Olympic Athletes of Russia, and almost six points better than Japan’s Ikuma Horishima, the only skier to beat him in seven World Cup events this season.
Kingsbury, the silver medallist at Sochi 2014, said he’s not thinking much about what it would mean to win this event.
“I’m going to do it and have fun,” he said. “I’m not thinking about the gold. I know it’s in the back of my head sometimes when I go to bed, but there are so many things here I have to go through first.”
Earlier Friday morning, Canada sent three skiers through to the women’s moguls final. Andi Naude was second after her qualifier, Justine Dufour-Lapointe was fourth and Audrey Robichaud was 10th. The top 10 scores of the 30 skiers in the men’s and women’s event moved directly into the final, which is a series of three runs.
Chloe Dufour-Lapointe, who finished 13th Friday, will have a chance in the second qualifier on Sunday to book a spot in the final.
“I’m thrilled,” said Naude, the 22-year-old from Penticton, B.C. “To be at the Olympics and do that my first run, I’m really happy with it.”
Philippe Marquis, who tore an ACL in his knee less than a month ago, finished his first run in eighth place to qualify for the final. The 28-year-old from Quebec City, who admitted to some dark feelings after the injury, said his injured knee was wrapped “tight like a (expletive).” He has “What ACL?” written on the wrist of one of his gloves.
“Proud of him,” Kingsbury said of his teammate. “It’s not easy to go down that course without an ACL.”
Canada’s Marc-Antoine Gagnon, who finished 11th in the first qualifier, will ski in the second qualifier on Monday afternoon. sstinson@postmedia.com Twitter: @scott_stinson