Industry News
Val Saint Côme in Canada hosted two days of spectacular moguls skiing last Friday and Saturday, January 19-20. The FIS World Cup event at the Canadian resort consisted of a single and dual moguls event.
Australia’s Jakara Anthony won both the moguls as well as the dual moguls event, leaving the competition far behind her, with being the only skier scoring more than 80 points in the female field in the singles. Second place went to Team USA’s Jaelin Kauf and third place to Japan’s Hinako Tomitaka. In total, six U.S. athletes made the round of the Final 16.
Kasey Hogg became the first woman to throw a cork 1080 in a qualification. Hogg followed in the footsteps of her teammate, Olivia Giaccio, who was the first woman to ever do a cork 1080 in a competition.
“I am so excited to be back in World Cup competitions. That atmosphere is always awesome, and skiing with the rest of the World Cup team is super fun. It felt incredible to throw a cork 1080 in both my qualifying and finals run today! It has been a goal of mine to compete this trick, and I felt like the time was right. Only having done a 1080 in my full top to bottom run just the day before comp was a challenge, but I’m so glad I decided to compete it today. I’ve spent a lot of time practicing this trick on the trampoline, water ramps, and snow, and competing at the World Cup level was a dream come true. I am so eager for the rest of the season and improving even more as the season goes on!”
— Kasey Hogg
The following day saw the duals and Jakara Anthony advanced through the brackets all the way to the big final, where she faced Jaelin Kauf. Unfortunately, Kauf lost control shortly after the top air and crashed, resulting in a DNF for Kauf and a victory for Anthony. This victory extended Anthony’s winning streak to six and marked her eighth win in nine events this season. In the small final Olivia Giaccio was facing off against Rino Yanagimoto. The Japanese lost control and shot into the fence, resulting in a DNF for her and a podium spot for the American.
Meanwhile, local Mikael ‘the King’ Kingsbury, who grew up not far from Val Saint Côme, had a disappointing start to the competition on Friday, where he missed qualifying for the super final of six for the first time this season. Victory instead went to Sweden’s Walter Wallberg while his teammate Filip Gravenfors joined him on the podium in third. Rounding out the podium in second place was Canadian Elliot Vailancourt. U.S. mogul skiers Cole McDonald and Nick Page finished in 10th and 11th place respectively.
On Saturday, Kingsbury returned to form, facing tough competition, particularly from Matt Graham in the semifinals and Filip Gravenfors in the big final. Kingsbury remained sharply focused throughout the final dual, securing a narrow victory against the Swedish upcoming star that delighted the home crowd. This win marked his 85th career World Cup victory, bringing him within one win of tying Ingemar Stenmark’s record for the most World Cup wins across all Olympic disciplines at FIS.
The men’s small final, however, was where all the action was at, with France’s Benjamin Cavet facing off against Australia’s Matt Graham. Approaching the top kicker, Cavet lost control and slid off the jump sideways, flying into Graham’s path. Graham, mid-air, had no way of avoiding the French skier and crash-landed on Cavet, resulting in a dramatic crash. Fortunately, both athletes were able to get up and ski down to the finish with no serious injuries. However, Cavet sliding across into Graham’s course was an instant DNF for the French mogul skier.
U.S. skier Nick Page finished the duals in 11th place, while teammate Cole McDonald finished in 14th place.
The FIS Freestyle World Cup tour moves to the new venue in Waterville, Vermont, with another moguls and dual moguls competitions scheduled for Friday and Saturday, January 26-27.
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