'A perfect day': Kingsbury makes singles moguls history with 4th world title
Wallberg adds bronze to Olympic gold; Perrine Laffont repeats as women's champion
Mikaël Kingsbury is the first man or woman to win four singles moguls world titles after breaking a tie with Frenchman Edgar Grospiron on Saturday in Bakuriani, Georgia.
Kingsbury, from Deux-Montagnes, Que., scored 89.82 points to beat Australia's Matt Graham (88.90) and reigning Olympic champion Walter Wallberg (88.52) of Sweden.
A three-time Olympic medallist, Kingsbury has captured seven world gold in his career, four more than any other man.
In dual moguls two weeks ago, Kingsbury won his 79th World Cup gold, finishing second to Japan's Ikuma Horishima in in Valmalenco, Italy to strengthen his lead atop the World Cup standings to 68 points over Wallberg.
"I came here with no pressure because I told myself, you know, I've won six times at world championships, so why put pressure again?" Kingsbury, who also owns a record-tying three world titles in dual moguls, told the International Ski Federation. The dual event makes its Olympic debut in 2026 in the Italian cities of Milan and Cortina d'Ampezzo.
WATCH l Moguls legend Kingsbury captures 4th world title:
"It was one of the strongest super finals I've ever competed in, but I believed in myself."
Kingsbury, who placed first in both the qualifications and the first final, noted he focused on living in the moment.
"I felt good all day," the 30-year-old added. "I won the qualifiers with 87 points and the super final with 89. For me, it was a perfect day."
Elliot Vaillancourt (Drummondville, Que.), Brenden Kelly (Pemberton, B.C.) and Julien Viel (Lévis, Que.) were 12th, 13th and 14th, respectively. Gabriel Dufresne (Joliette, Que.) was halted in the qualification rounds and placed 19th.
Dual moguls will be contested Sunday, and Kingsbury has no plans to slow down. He won gold in the event at each of the past two world championships.
"Half my work is already done. I love dual moguls, so why not try for a third double world championship?"
WATCH | Full coverage of men's singles moguls from Bakuriani:
Career best for Canada's Schwinghammer
In other action Saturday, Perrine Laffont of France scored 87.40 in Saturday's super final to become the first repeat world champion on the women's side since Kari Traa of Norway in 2003.
She also matched Canada's Jennifer Heil and Traa for the female record of four combined moguls and dual moguls victories.
Today at <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Bakuriani2023?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Bakuriani2023</a> France’s <a href="https://twitter.com/LaffontPerrine?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@LaffontPerrine</a> 🇫🇷 put her name into the history books alongside a couple of the very best to ever do it, winning her fourth career gold medal to join Jennifer Heil and Kari Traa atop the all-time World Champs leaderboard…🥇🥇🥇🥇<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/fisfreestyle?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#fisfreestyle</a> <a href="https://t.co/Anz5HERTVy">pic.twitter.com/Anz5HERTVy</a>
—@FISfreestyleMaia Schwinghammer of Saskatchewan advanced to the super final for the first time, finishing fifth in her second world championship appearance. She was 18th in single moguls three years ago in Park City, Utah.
Following an excellent start, the 21-year-old lost control and fell on her left side. After taking a few seconds to recover, she shrugged off her discomfort and completed the course.
Lauriane Desmarais-Gilbert (Sainte-Adèle, Que.) and Berkley Brown (Aurora, Ont.) were 11th and 15th in their debut worlds at the senior level.
Jaelin Kauf earned the first American medal at the event since Hannah Kearney's silver in 2015. However, the United States has been the most successful country in Olympic moguls medals with 12.
The World Cup moguls season concludes March 17-20 in Almaty, Kazakhstan.
