Kingsbury's Huge Breakout Season on the Mogul Hill
“He’s one of the leaders in the world and, he’s going to stick for at least eight years. It’s going to be his first Olympics probably in Sochi, and then probably the others. We probably have an Olympic champion in our back pocket and Canada doesn’t even know about it yet.”
Speaking is Alex Bilodeau, 2010 Olympic moguls champion. The “he” part his 18-year-old teammate Mikael Kingsbury (just call him ‘Mik’). The native of Deux-Montagnes, Que. is having an exemplary World Cup season – his first full season against the world’s top skiers.
On Wednesday, Kingsbury added to his bulging resume a bronze medal at the World Championships in Park City, Utah.
Kingsbury, who grew up skiing the slopes of Saint-Sauveur, is ranked No. 2 in World Cup men’s moguls – and No. 4 overall in freestyle skiing. In both cases, that is one slot ahead of Bilodeau (who captured silver at the World Championships).
Kingsbury told Olympic.ca that being a step ahead of the champion isn’t so important as doing the best he can himself every run. Over the summer he trained with Jenn Heil, Bilodeau and other teammates to get him the physical boost he needed to attack moguls runs.
“To train with them, it is big,” Kingsbury said. “It’s really good for me to follow in Alex’s footsteps in skiing and at the gym.”
Kingsbury won the overall Nor-Am Cup title last season on the strength of five gold medals. He also skied toward the end of the World Cup season, picking up a pair of 4th-place finishes. There, he earned another honour: FIS World Cup rookie of the year.
But that’s nothing compared to this year.
“Each World Cup is different, and I try to do my best on every course,” Kingsbury said. “(No matter what the course), I do the same routine every time. This year, my routine is working well.”
Showing the poise of a veteran, Kingsbury has won five medals in six World Cups. That includes a trio of silver medals and two gold medals. One of those wins came in the first World Cup freestyle event ever held in China. The last one came on home soil, in front of a throng of fans in Calgary.
In the meantime, he also uses distance learning to further his education. And, “when he can”, attends Collège Lionel-Groulx. His friends all came to the World Cup at Mont-Gabriel last month, where Kingsbury snagged a silver medal. “They were all excited to see my on the podium.”
Kingsbury said he isn’t that taken aback by his success this year, hinting he knew he had it in him if he lays down solid runs. He is taking it all in, step by step. “And 2014 (Olympic year) comes when it comes.”
For full stats, visit the FIS page to see where our athletes sit this year in the standings. (www.fis-ski.com/uk/disciplines/freestyle/cupstandings.html) In there is 16-year-old Justine Dufour-Lapointe, a Montrealer who is No. 5 overall and the youngest moguls skier ever to win a World Cup gold medal. As well, Audrey Robichaud is blossoming, winning medals at the past two events. And of course there is always Bilodeau, Jenn Heil, and Kristi Richards and Pierre-Alexandre Rousseau.
