Déjà vu in Thaiwoo: Kingsbury wins gold, Naude bronze for second straight day
The Canadian freestyle skiing team repeated their performances from yesterday, with Mikaël Kingsbury winning gold and Andi Naude another bronze.
Kingsbury topped the podium yet again to win gold in Thaiwoo, China with a score of 85.94. He placed just ahead of Kazakhstani Dmitriy Reikherd (84.92) and Australian Matt Graham (82.96).
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With the new win in Thaiwoo comes a 10th consecutive victory for the Quebecer and 45 career World Cup wins. How does that make the repeat Olympian feel? “It’s fantastic to win, especially when my opponents are skiing so well. Dmitriy, Matt, Jae Woo and all the others force me to ski at 100% capacity in order to do my best. If I’m dreaming, I don’t want anyone to wake me up!”
Andi Naude, who will be making her debut at the upcoming Olympic Games in PyeongChang, achieved her second podium result this year by winning bronze with a score of 80.03. Much like Thursday, the British Columbian skier placed behind both American Jaelin Kauf (80.08) and Kazakhstani Yulia Galysheva (80.88), who reversed their podium positions from a day earlier.
Naude shares the same thrill as Kingsbury: “Today was an awesome day. I was thrilled to be able to make it on the podium two days in a row and be able to ski six runs that I was really proud of, including my back full, which is the harder trick I do on the top air. It’s a huge confidence boost at the beginning of the season, especially an Olympic season.”
After a brief holiday break, the moguls skiers will return in the new year to perform at the first of two Canadian World Cups, taking place in Calgary on January 6, 2018.
