Team Canada Mikael KingsburyPhoto: @FISFreestyle / Twitter
Photo: @FISFreestyle / Twitter

Moguls: Kingsbury still on top and a first podium this season for Naude

The Canadian freestyle skiing team racked up a couple more medals in Thaiwoo, China as Mikaël Kingsbury won gold and Andi Naude took bronze on Thursday.

Kingsbury finished his World Cup course as it started: that’s to say, on the highest step of the podium. The man to beat on the circuit received a score of 83.61 points in the super final for the victory, just ahead of Australian Matt Graham (82.75) and Troy Murphy of the United States (80.57).

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With his nine consecutive victories and 44 career World Cup wins, you could say the 25-year-old Quebecer is a well-oiled machine. Known for his consistent performances and high level of difficulty, he will definitely be a favourite at PyeongChang 2018, with only Olympic gold missing for the “King of the Hill”.

For the women, Andi Naude, who will make her Olympic debut in PyeongChang, continues to make her place on the circuit by achieving her first podium of the 2017-18 season, taking the bronze. The Penticton, BC skier received a score of 77.64, beating her compatriot and Olympic champion Justine Dufour-Lapointe but placing behind American Jaelin Kauf (77.90) and Yulia Galysheva of Kazakhstan (77.79).

The action will resume Friday when another series of mogul events will be held on the same Chinese track.