2024-01-20 03:43:00
Elliot Vaillancourt was waiting for Mikaël Kingsbury who was to give him a report on the condition of the track before the super final of the Moguls World Cup in Val-St-Côme. Only problem: Kingsbury didn’t qualify. The good news? Vaillancourt saved the Canadian honor by finishing second for the second time this season.
“I had to get an update on the condition of the track and the bumps from Mik, because I always take it for granted that Mik makes it to the super final,” said Vaillancourt at the foot of the Alexandre-Bilodeau track.
« Michel [Hamelin, l’entraîneur-chef de l’équipe canadienne], told me: ‘We don’t have any feedback’. If Michel is next to me and Mik is not, something is going on. It was then explained to me that there had been a fall. »
Kingsbury, who was ranked No. 1 in the world following seven straight podiums, including four victories since the start of the season, missed his landing on the first jump of his descent in the final, depriving him of a place in the super final, where Vaillancourt found himself the sole representative of the maple leaf.
” I’m a little disappointed. I misjudged my landing at the top,” Kingsbury said. It’s good, because I have high expectations and I get good results. I just had my worst result of the season at home. It’s a shame, but we have another opportunity [samedi]. »
“When I realized that ‘Sir’ was not there and that there was no girl either, I felt very alone, it became very true,” Vaillancourt said. I felt some pressure on my shoulders. But I quickly realized that all of this was out of my control and I quickly managed to calm down. I got the order quite well! »
Starting penultimate, the young 24-year-old skier offered the best descent of the day so far, collecting 82.37 points from the judges, ensuring him at worst a silver medal.
The Swede Walter Wallberg relegated him to the second step of the podium following a very high level descent, which earned him 84.92 points.
“With Mik out, I thought I might win. But when I saw the Swede’s solid descent, I told myself that that would be for another time! »
This second podium following that of Alpe d’Huez, however, had another flavor for Vaillancourt.
“To achieve this in front of parents and friends. Seeing my father crying behind the media is crazy, he said. And the crowd shouted much louder for me than the French crowd, who completely ignored who I was, with my bib no. 56! »
Another Swede, Filip Gravenfors (77.70), completed the podium.
Kingsbury finally finished in 13th place. Louis-David Chalifoux, seventh, and Gabriel Dufresne, 12th, also reached the final. Julien Viel (23rd), Samuel Goodison (26th), Ryan Portello (29th), Sam Cordell (35th) failed to qualify. Joey Dubuc and Charles Beaulieu did not complete the course in qualifying.
In the World Cup rankings, Kingsbury slips to second place in singles with 340 points, 10 less than the Japanese Ikuma Horishima, fourth Friday on the Alexandre-Bilodeau track. In the general ranking, Kingsbury is still first at 600 points, but Horishima has moved closer to 530, ahead of Wallberg (408) and Gravenfors (382).
Canadian women excluded
Among the women, no Canadian reached the super final. Maia Schwinghammer, second following qualifying, stalled midway through the race and finished 15th. Berkley Brown (eighth) and Laurianne Desmarais-Gilbert (12th) also saw their workday end in the final.
The event was won by Australian and reigning Olympic champion Jakara Anthony (82.01), a seventh victory in eight races.
“We never get tired of it. It’s quite a privilege to occupy this first place week following week, said Anthony. There are still a lot of details that I am not satisfied with this evening. I am a perfectionist. »
She beat the American Jaelin Kauf (74.87) and the Japanese Hinako Tomitaka (74.19).
Jessica Linton (17th) and Ashley Koehler (18th), the other two Canadians in the running, stopped in qualifying.
Jakara obviously retains her yellow jerseys in singles and the general ranking, but is now ahead of Kauf in singles, who rose to second place ahead of Japanese Rino Yaganimoto in both rankings. Schwinghammer retained his 10th place overall.
The Val-St-Côme World Cup will continue on Saturday with the parallel moguls event.
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