Mikael Kingsbury collects 11th consecutive World Cup moguls title
Justine Dufour-Lapointe takes bronze in women's moguls
Canada's Mikael Kingsbury won his 11th straight World Cup moguls title with another dominant performance on Saturday in Calgary.
Kingsbury, of Deux-Montagnes, Que., captured gold in the men's final with 89.55 points ahead of Kazakhstan's Dmitriy Reikherd (86.43) and Australia's Matt Graham (83.23).
Kingsbury has won gold at each World Cup stop he's competed in since Jan. 28, 2017 when he settled for silver in Calgary.
"Yeah, I've gone a full year without losing a World Cup — it's just crazy," said Kingsbury. "But I'm not skiing for any record. I'm just skiing to be at my best. I'm having a lot of fun right now. It's fun when you're winning, for sure."
"The entire day was really exciting. Matt and Dmitriy had scores that I never thought I'd have to beat. They put a lot of pressure on me to do my best; and once again, I was able to achieve that with my run in the super final," Kingsbury said.
On the women's side, Justine Dufour-Lapointe reached the podium in third with 81.30 points.
"Starting out 2018 on the podium means so much," said Dufour-Lapointe, the gold medallist from the 2014 Olympics in Sochi. "It was really a fun day. I've done everything to be back on the podium. I'm proud and happy of myself."
Britteny Cox, of Australia, was golden with 82.11 ahead of France's Perrine Laffont (81.64).
Canadian Andi Naude just missed the podium with 81.23.
Kingsbury came short of declaring it his best-ever moment, but he did allow that it was "pretty clutch."
Yet he's not satisfied.
"I still want to be better at everything," said Kingsbury. "There's technical stuff but I'm [going] in the right direction, for sure, and I'm creating great momentum."
With files from the Canadian Press