Deux-Montagnes native wins third gold in as many starts

KILLINGTON, Vt. – Mikael Kingsbury of Deux-Montagnes, Que., continued his domination of men’s moguls on the NorAm freestyle ski circuit Friday. He collected his third-straight win after starting the season with a solitary bronze medal in his NorAm portfolio.

“He’s a phenomenal jumper, and he’s improved a lot since last year,” said former World Cup skier Jim Schiman, one of Canada’s national development team coaches. “He’s putting down big jumps and he has made a lot of technical gains.”

Winning back-to-back events in Lake Placid a week ago buoyed his confidence entering the first of two moguls’ events here.

“Every year I’ve improved a little more,” said Kingsbury, 17, who tries to pattern some of his technique after Canadian-born Australian mogul skier Dale Begg-Smith who is a medal favourite at the 2010 Olympics.

Kingsbury finished second in the preliminary round Friday before improving his jumps in the final.

“I was watching all the guys and saw some good runs with fast times, so I knew I had to ski well,” said the 140-pound Kingsbury. “It’s one of the best runs I’ve ever done,” he added after polishing up his jumps – a back-twisting flip and an off-axis D spin – in the final.

“Mikael is an awesome skier. He just rips all the courses,” said team-mate Cédric Rochon of St-Sauveur, Que., who placed third.

It was Rochon’s first career NorAm medal after producing a World Cup personal best of 10th in Lake Placid last month.

“I’m really happy with the way I’m skiing,” said Rochon, 19. “I’ve improved a lot and I want to continue to improve and go faster.”

Rochon’s score was 23.83, leaving Jeremy Cota of the U.S. second in 24.75 and Kingsbury leading at 25.28.

Rochon, Kingsbury, Eddie Hicks of Whistler, B.C., and Philippe Marquis of Quebec City will also be forerunners for men’s moguls at the Vancouver Olympics.

Other Canadian men in Friday’s final were Hicks in fifth, Marc-Antoine Gagnon of Terrebonne 10th, Marquis 13th and Simon Pouliot-Cavanagh of Quebec City 15th.

In women’s moguls, the Americans swept the podium as Eliza Outtrim’s score of 23.15 left Heidi Kloser second in 22.98 and Allison Digravio third in 22.84.

Canadian World Cup skiers Audrey Robichaud of Quebec City, Maxime Dufour-Lapointe of Montreal, and development squad member Béatrice Bilodeau of Rosemère, Que. took fourth, fifth and sixth respectively.

“I skied okay,” said Robichaud, after scoring 22.37. “I made a couple of mistakes in the morning that I fixed for the finals. I wish I did better, that’s for sure, but I’m mainly here for training.” Robichaud won two medals – a gold and a bronze – in last week’s Lake Placid NorAms.

Other Canadian finalists were Alexandra Dufresne of Lorraine, Que., in 12th, Alex-Anne Gagnon of Terrebonne, Que., 13th, and Julie Bureau of Lac Beauport, Que., 14th.

Action resumes with dual moguls Saturday, and Aerial NorAms from Ski Mont Gabriel on Saturday and Sunday.

For more information please contact Media Relations Manager Kelley Korbin at: kelleykorbin@freestyleski.com.

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Please note, our pre-Olympic news conferences are as follows:

MOGULS

When: Monday, February 8, 2010; 11:15 a.m. PT
What: Media availability with Canada’s Olympic Mogul Team
Where: BC Media Centre, Robson Square – 800 Robson, Vancouver
Who: Jenn Heil (Spruce Grove, AB and Montreal, QC)
Kristi Richards (Summerland, BC)Chloé Dufour-Lapointe (Montreal, QC)
Alex Bilodeau (Rosemere, QC)
Vincent Marquis (Quebec City, QC)
Pierre-Alexandre Rousseau (Drummondville, QC)
Maxime Gingras (St-Hippolyte, QC)

Team Coaches
CFSA CEO Peter Judge
CFSA High Performance Manager David Mirota


AERIALS

When: Friday, February 12, 2010; 10:00 a.m. PT
What: Media availability with Canada’s Olympic Aerial Team
Where: Main Press Centre (apologies but only accredited media can attend this venue, if you are unaccredited and would like a post-conference phone call from an athlete please contact us and we will try to accommodate your request)
Who: Veronika Bauer (Toronto, ON)
Steve Omischl (North Bay, ON and Kelowna, BC)
Warren Shouldice (Calgary, AB)
Kyle Nissen (Calgary, AB)

Coach Daniel Murphy
CFSA CEO Peter Judge
CFSA High Performance Manager David Mirota