mikael kingsburyTHE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick

Mikael Kingsbury starts freestyle skiing season with gold in Ruka

Mikael Kingsbury got his World Cup freestyle skiing season off to the perfect start on Saturday, winning gold in the men’s moguls event in Ruka, Finland.

Kingsbury improved with each run down the track, finishing with a score of 84.50 in his final outing to reach the top of the podium. Japan’s Ikuma Horishima scored 80.48 points to take silver while Australia’s Matt Graham took bronze with a score of 80.12.

The victory marked the 75th World Cup gold medal of Kingsbury’s illustrious career. The Quebec native missed most of the 2020-21 season due to injury but returned in March to win each of the last two events before taking silver in moguls at Beijing 2022.