Justine Dufour-Lapointe doubles the World Cup wins in Utah
Olympic champion Justine Dufour-Lapointe dominated the World Cup week in Utah, winning the moguls and dual events in succession.
On Thursday, Dufour-Lapointe beat her sister Chloe and Yulia Galysheva of Kazakhstan for the women’s moguls title in Deer Valley (more on this below). Two nights later, Dufour-Lapointe beat Galysheva in the dual moguls final for her third win and fourth podium in five World Cup moguls entries this season.
RELATED: Rochon soars to second in aerials
Justine Dufour-Lapointe atop the podium after winning dual moguls World Cup in Utah on February 6, 2016.
Dufour-Lapointe beat Galysheva 22-13 in the women’s dual final, where other Canadians, often used to dominating the single skier competition, were neutralized by the head-to-head, side-by-side nature of the more unpredictable two-skier races.
Case in point, where there were six Canadians in the women’s dual final 16, only eventual winner Dufour-Lapointe came in higher than sixth place. That outcome was similar on the men’s side where Mikael Kingsbury‘s usual singles supremacy was checked in the dual quarterfinals dropping him to an unlikely fifth place.
Dufour-Lapointe sisters – Justine followed by Chloe – are 1-2 in the women’s World Cup moguls standings, while Kingsbury is first, and fellow Canadian Philippe Marquis is third in the men’s table.
Thursday
Justine Dufour-Lapointe celebrates at a World Cup in Calgary on January 30, 2016.
Canadians scored three moguls medals – a gold, silver and bronze – at the FIS World Cup in Deer Valley, Utah on Thursday.
Olympic champion Justine Dufour-Lapointe was back on top of a moguls podium, after finishing second behind her sister Chloé and ahead of Andi Naude in a Canadian podium sweep last weekend in Calgary.
Chloe went into the final with a slight lead over her younger sister Justine. However, after an impressive run of 77.80 points from the Sochi 2014 gold medallist, Chloe’s 77.11 was unable to surpass her sister or Yulia Galysheva of Kazakhstan, who scored 77.75. Maxime Dufour-Lapointe who appeared in podium sweep with her sisters in Val Saint-Come, also qualified for Thursday’s final and placed fourth after scoring 74.46.
Justine Dufour-Lapointe in the women’s moguls competition at the FIS Freestyle Ski World Cup on January 23, 2016 in Val St-Come, Que.
The women’s final also ended a Canadian streak of sweeping the podium in that event after two consecutive weeks.
Mikael Kingsbury appeared untouchable in men’s moguls this season after becoming the all-time World Cup leader. The Canadian who led comfortably throughout the qualifying rounds, faced a difficult battle after Matt Graham of Australia unleashed 83.48 to steal first. Despite a strong run, Kingsbury was unable to match the Australian’s performance and finished second with a score of 82.75, while Ludvig Fjallstorm of Sweden finished third (81.41).
This was Kingsbury’s first loss this season after three-straight wins.
Mikael Kingsbury of Canada competes in the super final at the FIS Freestyle Ski World Cup Saturday, January 23, 2016 in Val St-Come, Que.
Canadians hold the top two moguls spots in the World Cup standings. Kingsbury has a sizeable lead in the men’s rankings with more than 100 points separating him from second place teammate Phillippe Marquis, who missed Thursday’s final. On the women’s side it’s a Dufour-Lapointe battle for first, as Chloe trails behind her sister Justine for the number one spot.
