Canada's Kingsbury wins 4th consecutive dual moguls title at world championships

Canadian freestyle skiing star Mikael Kingsbury won his fourth consecutive dual moguls title at the world championships Friday in Corviglia, Switzerland.

Kingsbury's final run was essentially a victory lap for the 32-year-old from Deux-Montagnes, Que.

His Japanese rival Ikuma Horishima was injured in a spectacular crash at the finish line in a semifinal against Sweden's Filip Gravenfors.

Hiroshima, who beat Kingsbury for singles gold Wednesday, pushed out of the start gate in the dual final, but didn't try to challenge Kingsbury.

Kingsbury hugged his rival after Hiroshima skied over the line.

WATCH | Canada's Mikaël Kingsbury coasts to 9th career world championship gold medal:

Canada's Mikaël Kingsbury coasts to 9th career world championship gold medal

7 hours ago

Duration 5:18

Mikaël Kingsbury of Deux-Montagnes, Que., won his ninth career world championship gold medal when he won the men's dual moguls event, at the FIS freestyle world championships in Corviglia, Switzerland. Kingsbury's opponent in the big final, Japan's Ikuma Horishima, had been injured in an earlier run, and he all but conceded the victory to Kingsbury.

"It's a great way to finish the week," Kingsbury told the world governing body of skiing FIS. "Obviously, I'm thinking about Ikuma. It's not the way I wanted to win the final. But I felt good on my skis today.

"I was able to build up and get better round by round. I'm super-happy to win my ninth gold medal at the world championships."

Australia's Matt Graham took bronze in similar fashion because Gravenfors also crashed at the finish line in the semifinal against Hiroshima, and slowly skied through the moguls behind Graham in the small final.

Horishima prevented Kingsbury from a championship four-peat in moguls' single format Wednesday. The 32-year-old Kingsbury won silver with 82.86 points in the final, well behind Horishima (89.03).

Kingsbury has now reached the podium in seven of eight dual moguls events at the world championships, including five wins.

In the women's event, Jessica Linton of North Vancouver, B.C., was the top Canadian in the seventh. Maia Schwinghammer of Saskatoon, who took bronze in moguls on Wednesday, finished 11th.

Kingsbury is coming off another stellar World Cup season which saw him take home three Crystal Globes as the moguls, dual moguls and overall moguls champion.

He defeated Horishima in the final World Cup dual moguls event of the season last week in Livigno, Italy, to leapfrog his Japanese rival into first place in the season standings.