Laffont and Kingsbury repeats as moguls season wraps up in Megeve
Mar 20, 2022·Freestyle
A hugely successful weekend of back-to-back competitions in Megeve (FRA) wrapped up on Saturday, where dual moguls event closed out another breathtaking season of FIS Freestyle Ski Moguls World Cup action. There, Perrine Laffont (FRA) and Mikael Kingsbury (CAN) repeated their performances from Friday and went all-out for top spot in respective women’s and men’ competitions.
After securing the moguls crystal globe with a heroic performance on Friday, Laffont kept her momentum going on Saturday and once again impressed with some flawless skiing throughout the day, keeping things clean in the bumps while throwing down some progressive tricks on the jumps. Her path to victory was no easy one, however, as she faced some tough match-ups against some very talented mogul skiers, including Chloe Dufour-Lapointe (CAN), her teammate Camile Cabrol (FRA) and Kai Owens (USA) on her way to the big final.
There, Laffont faced Jakara Anthony (AUS) and it was the second time this season that the duo met at this stage of competition. And while last week in Chiesa in Valmalenco it was the Australian walking away victorious, on Saturday, however, it was all about Laffont. Competing on home soil and supported by the enthusiastic crowd, Laffont won the big final with 19 points to Anthony’s 16 and won her second competition this weekend.
It was the fifth win for Laffont in 2021/22 and with a total of nine podiums to go along her career’s seventh crystal globe she heroically won the day before, Laffont capped off another season of World Cup competitions on a high.
The second place on the day went to Anthony, while Jaelin Kauf (USA) rounded out the women’s podium in third place after winning all-American small final matchup against Kai Owens.
Following her back-to-back second places on the weekend, it was Anthony, however, who wrapped up the season as the biggest winner on the women’s side, as the 2022 Olympic gold medallist from Beijing added another two titles to her impressive record in 2021/22.
The most consistent athlete on the women’s side Anthony racked up three victories, while finishing outside top-3 in only one of 12 competitions scheduled for 2021/22 season. Consequently the 23-year-old Australian won both dual moguls as well as moguls overall crystal globes.
In the final dual moguls standing, Anthony led the way with 340 points. Laffont finished the campaign in second place with 296 points, while Owens completed the podium in third with 200 points.
In the moguls overall World Cup standing, Anthony wrapped up the season with a combined score of 925 points. Laffont took second with 906 points, while Anri Kawamura (FRA) finished in third place with 704 points.
Things were quite interesting also on the men’s side with plenty of tight and interesting clashes going down throughout the day. In the end it was Mikael Kingsbury, who completed a perfect weekend to wrap up another season of some truly remarkable achievements for the “King of Moguls”.
On Saturday Kingsbury was once again on a mission, besting the likes of Severi Vierela (FIN), Cole McDonald (USA), Ludvig Fjallstrom (SWE) and finally Ikuma Horishima in the big final matchup.
Kingsbury claimed his second victory of the weekend to make it four-for-four in dual moguls competitions while also completing the 2021/22 moguls hat trick - winning all three of the moguls, dual moguls and moguls overall crystal globes for this season.
And for those one counting, that’s now 21 crystal globes in his career for the King, putting him just one back of the great Conny Kissling for the most in FIS Freestyle Ski World Cup history.
With Kingsbury on top and Horishima in respective second place on the day, Ludvig Fjallstrom came out victorious against his teammate Walter Wallberg in all-Swedish small final, wrapping up the season with his second top-3 spot in 2021/22.
In the dual moguls ranking Kingsbury finished with a perfect score of 400 points for four wins in four competitions this season. Horishima finished in second place with 300 points, while Wallberg completed the top-3 in third with 208 points.
In the moguls overall ranking Kingsbury collected a combined score of 1072 points, with Horishima once again finishing behind in second with 940 points and Wallberg rounding out top-3 with 613 points.
As the FIS Freestyle Ski World Cup season came to a close, USA won the Dual Moguls Nations Cup for the best performing team across dual moguls competitions in 2021/22 season.
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