Mikaël Kingsbury has become the first man or woman to win four world mogul titles in singles after they broke a tie with France’s Edgar Grospiron on Saturday in Bakuriani, Georgia.
Kingsbury of Deux-Montagnes, Que., scored 89.82 points, beating Australia’s Matt Graham (88.90) and reigning Olympic gold medalist Walter Wallberg (88.52) of Sweden.
A three-time Olympic medalist, Kingsbury has won world gold seven times in his career, four times more than any other man.
Two weeks ago, Kingsbury won his 79th World Cup gold in two Moguls, finishing second to Japan’s Ikuma Horishima in Valmalenco, Italy, to extend his lead at the top of the World Cup standings to 68 points ahead of Wallberg.
“I came here with no pressure because I said to myself, you know, I’ve won six world championships, so why press again?” Kingsbury, who also owns a record three world titles in double hump, told the International Ski Federation. The double event will make its Olympic debut in 2026 in the Italian cities of Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo.
WATCH l Moguls Legend Kingsbury Claims 4th World Title:
“It was one of the strongest Superfinals I’ve ever been in, but I believed in myself.”
Kingsbury, who took first place in both qualifying and the first final, noted his focus on living in the moment.
“I felt good all day,” added the 30-year-old. “I won the qualification with 87 points and the superfinal with 89. For me it was a perfect day.”
Elliot Vaillancourt (Drummondville, Que.), Brenden Kelly (Pemberton, BC) and Julien Viel (Lévis, Que.) finished 12th, 13th and 14th respectively. Gabriel Dufresne (Joliette, Que.) was stopped in the qualifying rounds and took the 19th place.
Double moguls will be contested on Sunday and Kingsbury have no plans to slow down. He won gold at the last two World Championships.
“Half of my work is already done. I love double moguls so why not try to win a third double world championship?”
CLOCK | Full coverage of Bakuriani men’s singles moguls:
Career best for Canada’s swing hammer
In another action on Saturday, Perrine Laffont of France scored 87.40 in Saturday’s Superfinal to become the first repeat World Champion in women since Kari Traa of Norway in 2003.
She has also drawn level with Canadians Jennifer Heil and Traa to equal the female record of four combined moguls and doubles moguls wins.
Maia Schwinghammer from Saskatchewan reached the Superfinals for the first time and finished fifth in her second appearance at the World Championships. She was 18th in single moguls three years ago in Park City, Utah.
After an excellent start, the 21-year-old lost control and fell onto her left side. After taking a few seconds to recover, she shrugged off her discomfort and completed the course.
Lauriane Desmarais-Gilbert (Sainte-Adèle, Que.) and Berkley Brown (Aurora, Ont.) placed 11th and 15th at their debut worlds in the senior division.
Jaelin Kauf won the first American medal at the event since Hannah Kearney’s silver in 2015. However, the United States was the most successful country in the Olympic moguls with 12 medals.
The Moguls World Championships season ends March 17-20 in Almaty, Kazakhstan.
