Kingsbury leads Canadian squad into Calgary moguls
Aug 31, 2018·Freestyle
Calgary, CAN - The 2016/17 moguls World Cup rolls into one of the most historically important venues in Freestyle this weekend, with competition coming to Calgary’s WinSport Canada Olympic Park this Saturday.
FIS Freestyle World Cup competition was first held in Calgary back in 1981, with the first moguls competition being held on the challenging Calgary moguls pitch in 1987, just ahead of the Calgary 1988 Olympic Winter Games.
Then, at the 1988 Games, Freestyle made it’s Olympic debut as a demonstration sport, with moguls, aerials, and acro competitions laying the foundation for Freestyle to become the overwhelmingly popular Olympic draw that it is today.
Saturday’s competition in Calgary will be the second-straight on Canadian soil after last weekend’s showcase in Val St. Come, Quebec, where the Canadian team got back on track after a slow start to the season with four of a possible six podiums and wins for Justine Dufour-Lapointe and Mikael Kingsbury.
Three of the four Val St. Come podiums went to the Canadian ladies’ squad who, lead by the above-mentioned Dufour-Lapointe, exploded for a podium sweep after being shut out of the awards in the first two events of the season.
With Justine’s determined effort to take the win in Val St. Come, a strong runner-up showing by 21-year-old Andi Naude, and a third-place for 2015/16 moguls crystal globe winner Chloe Dufour-Lapointe, the Canadians will be looking to keep some momentum going into a Calgary competition where they were able to complete a similar ladies’ podium sweep last season.
However, a look at the ladies’ leaderboard shows the host squad has some work to do if they hope to once again move atop the World Cup standings, as Britteny Cox (AUS) still wears the yellow bib comfortably, with 18-year-old Perrine Laffont (FRA) holding onto the second-overall spot that she’s owned since the first competition of the season.
Kingsbury looks to make it seven straight in Calgary
Meanwhile, on the men’s side, Kingsbury’s win in Val St. Come has put him back in the driver’s seat heading into Calgary, after he fell from the top of the leaderboard when Dmitriy Reiherd (KAZ) overtook the him two weekends ago in Lake Placid.
Calgary was the site of Kingsbury’s first ever World Cup competition, and since his first start here he has gone on to win six-straight times at the venue - an incredible run of consistency on an extremely challenging Calgary course that features one of the most dramatic rollover-style pitches on tour.
After finishing in eighth last weekend Reiherd remains in second position overall, while Matt Graham (AUS), Ben Cavet (FRA), and Sho Endo (JPN) round out a diverse men’s top five.
One of the most intriguing stories of the season thus far, however, is the young man sitting in seventh place on the leaderboard, as 16-year-old Walter Wallberg (SWE) is quickly making a name for himself in his first season on the World Cup tour.
Scoring a fifth-place result two weeks ago in Lake Placid, Wallberg went on to shock the field last weekend in Val St. Come, besting Kingsbury to earn the top score in qualifying, before going on to finish in third place, taking his first World Cup podium in just his fourth World Cup competition.
With composure beyond his years and a silky smooth technique, many eyes will be on Wallberg this weekend to see if we truly are witnessing the next emergence of the next big thing in moguls skiing.
Action in Calgary gets underway with ladies’ qualifications at 9:25MST on Saturday, followed by men’s qualifications at 11:20 and men’s and ladies’ finals scheduled for 13:30.
Calgary moguls World Cup TV exposure
Hi-res Calgary training photos (for editorial use, credit FIS/Buchholz)
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