Anthony and Horishima open Alpe d’Huez weekend with victories
Dec 16, 2022·Freestyle
After two weeks of the FIS Freestyle Ski World Cup action in Finland and Sweden, the moguls World Cup tour was back in business on Friday in France for its third straight weekend of competitions. Jakara Anthony (FRA) and Ikuma Horishima (JPN) took victories in the moguls event to open an exciting weekend of back-to-back competitions on the fantastic venue in Alpe d’Huez.
After three down-days, the sun was finally out and Friday was simply a picture-perfect day with blue skies and mild temperatures, giving an impression that the season’s third moguls competition was going down sometimes in the spring months and not in the middle of December. The optimal snow conditions and an exciting course made for a perfect backdrop for what turned out to be a thrilling showcase of world’s best mogul skiing.
In the women’s competition it was Australia’s Jakara Anthony, who stormed to victory after coming on top in each of Friday’s competition rounds and finishing with a final score of 79.70 points for her big final attempt. Anthony left no doubt on who was the best female athlete on the day, outscoring the rest of the field by a solid margin in both turn as well as air scores.
It was Anthony’s third straight win in single moguls so far in 2022/23, and her third on the venue in Alpe d’Huez, as the 2022 Olympic Champion won both competitions on the “Signal” course back in 2021.
Second place on the day went to the local fans’ favourite Perrine Laffont (FRA), who snagged her fourth consecutive top-3 spot in 2022/23, while last week’s DM winner from Idre - Elizabeth Lemley rounded out the podium in third place.
Following her win of Friday Anthony leads the way in the moguls World Cup ranking with a perfect score of 300 points, with Laffont now moving into second with 220 points. Anri Kawamura (JPN), who failed to qualify for Friday’s moguls competitions, sits in third with 148 points. Anthony also sits atop the overall moguls World Cup standing with Laffont in second and Lemley in third.
It was also an interesting contest over on the men’s side, where Ikuma Horishima (JPN) claimed his first victory of the season. Horishima won the moguls event in Alpe d’Huez last year, and once again the Japanese riders was on a mission, coming on top of the field in both rounds of finals and wrapping up the first day with a score of 82.66 points.
Mikael Kingsbury had to settle for the second place on the day, as the reining World Cup champion couldn’t quite match the speed, turns and jumps of Horishima on Friday. Nevertheless, for yet another time Kingsbury proved he’s still the man to beat in moguls as he came with another super solid performance and his fourth consecutive top-3 finish.
After coming in the respective fourth and fifth place last weekend in Idre, 2022 Rookie of the Year - Cole McDonald finally managed to step things up and snag his career’s first World Cup podium, after showing some superb skiing on Friday and finishing the competition in third place.
In the moguls World Cup ranking Kingsbury keeps leading the field with 260 points after three competitions, with Horishima and Nick Page (USA) following in second and third place, respectively with 230 and 195 points. Kingsbury also sits atop the overall moguls standing, again with Horishima and Page rounding out top-3 in second and third place.
The FIS Freestyle World Cup action in Alpe d’Huez continues tomorrow with the dual moguls event. Saturday’s competition will get underway with preliminary rounds at 10:30 CET, which will be followed by the finals at 13:00 CET.
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QUICK LINKS:
Alpe d'Huez World Cup FIS data page (start lists, results, etc.)
Results: WOMEN MO / MEN MO
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