Around the World
Canadian moguls team looks to continue strong season on home soil
The men and ladies of the FIS Freestyle moguls World Cup tour will make something of a pilgrimage this weekend, travelling to the epicentre of Canada's moguls heartland to take part in competition in Val St. Come, Quebec.
Fully six of the seven athletes on the standout Canadian moguls “A-Team” hail from Quebec, and every one of those skiers claims a hometown within 250kms of the small resort. In fact, for Kreischberg 2015 World Championships bronze-medallist Marc-Antoine Gagnon, Val St. Come is the resort that he grew up skiing on, and where he first started to hone his moguls technique.
However, the biggest draw for the Quebec crowd on Saturday is undoubtably to be the high-flying tandem of Justine Dufour-Lapointe and Mikael Kingsbury, as the two young skiers return to their home province for the first time since winning Olympic medals at Sochi (Justine the gold and Mikael the silver) and a pair of medals each at January's World Championships in Kreischeberg (both walked away with a silver and a gold).
On top of the precious metals, both Dufour-Lapointe and Kingsbury will be bringing home to Val St. Come the yellow bibs as the moguls World Cup leaders, with Justine riding a two-win streak in what is shaping up be the best season of her career and Kingsbury settled into a four-win run that shows no signs of slowing down.
With all of the above being said, the duo of Justine Dufour-Lapointe and Mikael Kingsbury are not without rivals.
On the ladies' side, there is no conversation about moguls to be had without mentioning the name Hannah Kearney (USA). The winner of five of the last six moguls crystal globes and three of the last four Freestyle overall crystal globes, Kearney is currently four wins away from surpassing Donna Weinbrecht (USA) for the all-time freestyle record for most victories.
However, Kearney has already announced that 2014/15 will be her last season before retirement, and with only four moguls or dual moguls competitions left in the season, and with Justine Dufour-Lapointe skiing at the level that she is currently at, it is going to take an incredible effort on the part of Kearney to claim said record.
Beyond Kearney, middle Dufour-Lapointe, Chloe, sits in third on the World Cup leaderboard, followed by Canadian teammate Andi Naude and veteran Deborah Scanzio (SUI).
For the men, Kingsbury rides into Val St. Come in a class all his own.
Winner of the last four World Cups (as mentioned), Kingsbury barely missed out on double-gold in Kreischberg and only seems to be getting stronger as the season rolls on. Ahead by more than 200 points on the World Cup leader board, the question now seems not to be whether or not he can lock down his fourth straight moguls crystal globe, but whether he will be able to best the six-straight win mark he recorded in 2011/12.
Behind him, teammate Philippe Marquis, Alexandr Smyshlyaev (RUS), Matt Graham, and Kreischberg single moguls gold medalist Anthony Benna (FRA) are all having strong seasons and are podium threats in any event. However, on home soil and with friends and family in attendance to back him up, Kingsbury will be a tough match for any skier on earth.
Fully six of the seven athletes on the standout Canadian moguls “A-Team” hail from Quebec, and every one of those skiers claims a hometown within 250kms of the small resort. In fact, for Kreischberg 2015 World Championships bronze-medallist Marc-Antoine Gagnon, Val St. Come is the resort that he grew up skiing on, and where he first started to hone his moguls technique.
However, the biggest draw for the Quebec crowd on Saturday is undoubtably to be the high-flying tandem of Justine Dufour-Lapointe and Mikael Kingsbury, as the two young skiers return to their home province for the first time since winning Olympic medals at Sochi (Justine the gold and Mikael the silver) and a pair of medals each at January's World Championships in Kreischeberg (both walked away with a silver and a gold).
On top of the precious metals, both Dufour-Lapointe and Kingsbury will be bringing home to Val St. Come the yellow bibs as the moguls World Cup leaders, with Justine riding a two-win streak in what is shaping up be the best season of her career and Kingsbury settled into a four-win run that shows no signs of slowing down.
With all of the above being said, the duo of Justine Dufour-Lapointe and Mikael Kingsbury are not without rivals.
On the ladies' side, there is no conversation about moguls to be had without mentioning the name Hannah Kearney (USA). The winner of five of the last six moguls crystal globes and three of the last four Freestyle overall crystal globes, Kearney is currently four wins away from surpassing Donna Weinbrecht (USA) for the all-time freestyle record for most victories.
However, Kearney has already announced that 2014/15 will be her last season before retirement, and with only four moguls or dual moguls competitions left in the season, and with Justine Dufour-Lapointe skiing at the level that she is currently at, it is going to take an incredible effort on the part of Kearney to claim said record.
Beyond Kearney, middle Dufour-Lapointe, Chloe, sits in third on the World Cup leaderboard, followed by Canadian teammate Andi Naude and veteran Deborah Scanzio (SUI).
For the men, Kingsbury rides into Val St. Come in a class all his own.
Winner of the last four World Cups (as mentioned), Kingsbury barely missed out on double-gold in Kreischberg and only seems to be getting stronger as the season rolls on. Ahead by more than 200 points on the World Cup leader board, the question now seems not to be whether or not he can lock down his fourth straight moguls crystal globe, but whether he will be able to best the six-straight win mark he recorded in 2011/12.
Behind him, teammate Philippe Marquis, Alexandr Smyshlyaev (RUS), Matt Graham, and Kreischberg single moguls gold medalist Anthony Benna (FRA) are all having strong seasons and are podium threats in any event. However, on home soil and with friends and family in attendance to back him up, Kingsbury will be a tough match for any skier on earth.
Source: fis-ski.com
