Moguls event kicks off Ruka’s freestyle opener in style
Dec 03, 2022·Freestyle
The 2022/23 FIS Freestyle Ski World Cup started off with a rush on Saturday just south of the Arctic Circle, where the first moguls World Cup competition of the new season saw Australia’s Jakara Anthony and Mikael Kingsbury of Canada walk away with the wins and the early-season yellow leaders bibs at the 13th edition of the Freestyle Opening Ruka (FIN).
Anthony rises to the occasion for first Ruka win
After claiming Beijing 2022 moguls gold and the dual moguls and moguls overall crystal globes last season, Anthony came into a fresh World Cup season as the de-facto favourite for the first time in her career.
The 24-year-old Anthony showed no signs of feeling the pressure on Saturday, however, as she more than lived up to expectation with a technical, hard-charging performance that solidified her status as the best in the world right now.
While Anthony put down only the third-fastest run time of the women’s superfinal, her superior air package (with a corked 720 mute off the first air bump and a backflip mute on the second), combined with far-and-away the best turn scores of the day, gave her a total score of 81.69 for the win - more than three points clear of her nearest competitors.
The win was the fifth of Anthony’s career and her first at the fabled season-opener in Ruka.
“It’s my first win in Ruka ever,” Anthony said following what was also the fifth World Cup victory of her career, “To kick off the season with the win and the yellow bib is pretty massive. You come into the first event and you don’t know what everyone’s been doing since last season, so it’s exciting to come out and see what everyone can do and show off what you’re capable of.”
“It’s a bit of a different experience for me this year, coming off such incredible experiences last season with the gold medal and the crystal globes,” Anthony continued, “I’ve definitely got a bit of a target on my back now and I think there’s going to be a lot of learning experiences this season, but I’m really looking forward to it.”
Just behind Anthony the podium battle ended up in a rare tie score, with last season’s moguls crystal globe winner Perrine Laffont of France and last season’s moguls World Cup runner-up Anri Kawamura of Japan finishing with identical 78.33 scores on Saturday.
However, with Laffont’s turn scores of 47.2 besting the 46.1 mark earned by Kawamura, the first tie-breaking criteria meant that the French ace would be awarded the runner-up position for her 44th career podium and her fifth at Ruka in nine starts there.
For the 18-year-old Kawamura, Saturday’s third place finish was the 12th World Cup podium of her career and her first at Ruka since she scored her inaugural World Cup top-3 there back in the 2019/20 season.
More Ruka magic for Mikael Kingsbury
The Freestyle Opening Ruka event made its debut on the World Cup circuit in 2010/11, which was also the same season that Mikael Kingsbury set off on his first full World Cup campaign, and the then 18-year-old Kingsbury earned the first World Cup podium of what would become the greatest men’s career in freestyle skiing history here in Ruka on that December day 12 years ago.
Since that time Ruka has been the scene of some of the most remarkable moments in a career that is simply overflowing with them, and after his 10th victory at the resort - and the 104th podium since he first earned a World Cup top-3 all those years ago - Kingsbury took a little trip down memory lane.
“I’ve got so many great memories here in Ruka,” Kingsbury said following another triumph in Finland, “I got my first World Cup podium here, my 50th win here, I beat (Edgar) Grospiron’s all-time record for wins here, my 100th World Cup start was here…so to make it 10 wins here is extra special. I skied well today, followed my game plan even when the other guys were pushing it in the superfinal, and it ended up being again a super special night in Ruka.”
“It’s always been my favourite course,” Kingsbury went on when asked about the significant role Ruka has played in his career, “I love competing here. This year is quite special obviously, being my 10th win here. It’s pretty hard to beat that, especially because we only do the single moguls event here, never a back-to-back. And this time my parents are here. It’s their first time in Finland, so it’s unbelievable to get this win in front of them.”
Kingsbury was dominant in the superfinal, putting down the fastest run time and earning the highest scores of the competition for both his airs and his turns. Kingsbury’s total score of 84.50 would put the Canadian more than four points ahead of runner-up Ikuma Horishima of Japan and his score of 80.48.
Third place for the men in Ruka would go to Australia’s Matt Graham, who tried to one-up Kingsbury and Horishima on the jumps by going with a back double full on the top air when both Kingsbury and Horishima opted for the simpler back full. Unfortunately for Graham the gamble didn’t pay off, and some slightly sketchy form in the air cost him crucial points with the judges. The 28-year-old Australian would finish just behind Horishima with a score of 80.12.
With the day one of the Freestyle Opening Ruka in the books and the 2022/23 moguls World Cup season officially off and running, we now turn our attention to the aerials venue, where the highest flyers on skis will take to the Finnish skies on Sunday.
Freestyle Opening Ruka aerials World Cup qualifications will start at 10:40 local time with the women, followed by the men at 13:25. Aerials finals will close out a big opening weekend of FIS Freestyle Ski World Cup action at 16:00.
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