The FIS Freestyle Ski moguls World Cup competition took place at Mont Tremblant on Saturday, with Perrine Laffont (FRA) and Mikael Kingsbury (CAN) taking big wins right in the heart of Canadian mogul skiing in Quebec.
For the second consecutive year Mont Tremblant hosted the moguls World Cup competition, carrying on a long tradition of aerials and moguls World Cup event that were staged here regularly from 1996 to 2005.
And again this year, the event in Quebec delivered a top-notch show, as the 2018/19 seasons’ sixth event went down in style on a classic venue of the Flying Mile run.
In the ladies’ event it was Perrine Laffont who came back on top of the World Cup podium following three consecutive second place finishes in the previous events. The current World Cup leader was on top of her game on the day, coming in hot with the most difficult trick combination on the jumps, setting the second fastest time in the big final and flawless fly down the bumpy track at Mont Tremblant.
“It was a hard and cold day here in Quebec,” said Laffont. “The crowd was amazing though and the fans were really cheering us on so I tried to enjoy the course and do my best. I’m really happy with the win here.”
Last week’s winner from Lake Placid Jakarta Anthony finished the competition in second, losing to Laffont by a razor-thin margin of 0.43 point. Th Aussie skier continues her remarkable run in 2018/19 campaign going for her season’s third podium, while working their way through into the big final in every competition so far.
Pleasing the local fans with a third place finish was Justine Dufour-Lapointe (CAN), as she finally claimed her first podium spot in 2018/19.
Coming back on top of the podium after somehow a disappointing performance in Lake Placid, was Mikael Kingsbury. The Canadian ripper and local hero dominated the men’s competition and grabbed his first victory on the venue at Mont Tremblant, located just 20 minutes away from his hometown of Sainte-Agathe-des-Monts.
“It’s a special feeling to stand on top and have all those people screaming your name,” said Kingsbury. “And to win in front of my family and friends just makes me really happy.”
Second place on the day went to Ikuma Horishima (JPN), as the Japanese skier is gaining momentum ahead of the upcoming world championships in Deer Valley, where he will try to defend his two gold medals that he won in Sierra Nevada back in 2015.
Dmitriy Reikherd (KAZ) rounded out the men’s podium in third, for his second top-3 finish this season.
In the World Cup standing it’s Mikael Kingsbury, who is leading the way with 545 points. Benjamin Cavet (FRA) sits in second with 375 points, while Walter Wallberg (SWE) is placed third with 316 points.
The World Cup athletes will now be heading to Deer Valley for the Utah 2019 Snowboard, Freestyle and Freeski World Championships, with a single moguls competition scheduled to take place on Friday, February 8, while the dual moguls event will follow up on Saturday, February 9.
The moguls World Cup tour will be then back in action in the fourth week of February with back-to-back competition in Tazawako (JPN) on February 23-24.
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