A historic moment, despite everything
It has to be said, this was really not a foregone conclusion. But Mikaël Kingsbury has once again proven that he knows how to make history, even when the weather and circumstances seemed to be doing everything they could to stop him.
On Friday, in Val Saint-Côme, in front of his family, friends, and fans, in the pouring rain and thick fog, the “king of the moguls” pulled off something huge. His 100th World Cup victory. We’re talking about an unprecedented feat in freestyle skiing—a true record. Can you imagine? To me, 100 victories in anything sounds like science fiction!
Emotions were clearly running high. He may have said all week that that number wasn’t his priority… but you can bet that when first place was confirmed, it must have meant something. A deeply meaningful moment, as he himself said, and one that was hard to truly grasp in the heat of the moment.
A hard-fought victory under extreme conditions
I need to tell you how it all went down, because it wasn’t exactly a walk in the park. The rain and fog caused so many problems for the organizers that they had to postpone everything. The men’s qualifiers finally took place in the early evening, and they even had to change the competition format. The super final was canceled altogether, and everything came down to a single final featuring 16 skiers. Not exactly the kind of setting you’d imagine for a historic moment, don’t you think?
Mikaël Kingsbury wasn’t even the favorite coming out of the qualifiers. He was only third, trailing two formidable competitors: Japan’s Ikuma Horishima, who is this season’s world leader and was in second place, and a young South Korean just 20 years old, Daeyoon Jung, who was in the lead at that point.
But as it turns out, fate sometimes works out just right. In the final, both rivals made a mistake, failing to land their tricks. Horishima finished 15th (with 61.63 points) and Jung last (41.20 points). Kingsbury, on the other hand, stepped up his game. He posted a run worth 85.83 points, clinching the victory. Rounding out the podium were Australia’s Matt Graham (83.50 points) and the United States’ Nick Page (80.96 points).
The weight of the numbers and a comeback from injury
Speaking with Radio-Canada Sports, Kingsbury tried to help us understand the significance of the achievement. “In our sport, making 100 starts is like playing 1,000 games in the National Hockey League. That’s a big deal—not everyone makes it to 100,” he explained. It’s a great way to look at things. He also admitted, with his characteristic candor, that he had almost given up hope. “Never in my life would I have thought I’d make it to 100. I remember, even when I was at 50, I’d think to myself, ‘100 is ridiculous.’”
This triumph is all the more remarkable given that it comes after a difficult period. Early in the season, Kingsbury was hampered by a groin injury. It was serious enough that he had to withdraw from the Ruka event in Finland last December. This return to competition was therefore crucial, especially with the Olympics on the horizon. “It was important to me,” he acknowledged. “It was as if I’d lost faith in my ability to make it before the Olympics because of the injury. ” Now we understand his emotion better.
A quick note for fans: the Quebec star hasn’t confirmed whether he’ll compete in the parallel moguls event scheduled for Saturday. That event will be broadcast on ICI TOU.TV, if you want to watch.
And in the women’s competition, and more
On the women’s side, the competition was also disrupted by the weather. Rain forced the cancellation of the finals, and the standings were determined by the qualifying rounds. Canadian Maïa Schwinghammer took a solid 6th place with 73.38 points.
The victory went to Australia’s Jakara Anthony (79.83 points), ahead of Americans Tess Johnson (75.85 points) and Olivia Giaccio (75.78 points). Another Canadian, Jessica Linton, finished 10th.
To put this 100th victory into a broader context, Kingsbury has joined a very exclusive club. Among women, only American Mikaela Shiffrin has reached this milestone, and she did so in February 2025. In men’s cross-country skiing, Norway’s Johannes Høsflot Klæbo has racked up a total of 114. That gives you an idea of the level of performance we’re talking about here.
Finally, for those who want to learn more, Radio-Canada also offers articles on Val Saint-Côme’s role as a key training ground for Canadian mogul skiers ahead of the Olympics, and on the fact that Kingsbury was aiming for this 100th victory even though he wasn’t “always at 100%” physically. A story that, without a doubt, is just beginning.
Mikaël Kingsbury’s 100th victory: a page of history written in the rain
This content was created with the help of AI.
