Mikael Kingsbury performs a cork flip on a moguls runAP Photo/Jeff Swinger
AP Photo/Jeff Swinger

Consistent Kingsbury captures silver at the moguls mecca in Deer Valley

Mikaël Kingsbury continues to be consistent when he’s competing in Deer Valley, Utah. On Thursday night, he claimed silver in moguls at the latest stop of the FIS Freestyle World Cup circuit.

The overall leader in the moguls World Cup standings, Kingsbury ranked second in the qualification round and in the first round of the final. In the six-man super final, he laid down his best run of the day to score 83.65 points. That put him into top spot, with only Australian Matt Graham still to go. With better scores on his turns, as well as for his time, Graham totalled 85.35 points to take the gold medal.

“That was a tough day, I’m very satisfied with my result. I had a nasty crash in training just before the finals. I locked in another Crystal Globe, I’m very happy. Matt was solid today and I must congratulate him,” said Kingsbury.

The silver was Kingsbury’s 19th career World Cup medal in Deer Valley. He has also won four FIS World Championship medals at the venue. He hasn’t missed a podium in Deer Valley in any event since he was fifth in a dual moguls World Cup in February 2016.

Kingsbury has never missed a moguls podium in Deer Valley, a streak that dates back to his debut there in February 2011 when he won world championship bronze. Since then, he has never finished lower than second in a moguls event.

Kingsbury will look to add to that illustrious resumé on Saturday when he competes in the dual moguls.

His teammate Elliot Vaillancourt earned the best World Cup result of his career on Thursday when he finished fifth in the super final. On the women’s side, Maia Schwinghammer placed fourth in the super final with 74.16 points, leaving her about three points shy of the podium. That is the best result of her career, surpassing the fifth place finish she achieved last weekend in Val St. Come, Quebec.