Kingsbury wins dual moguls gold for fifth career Olympic medal

Mikaël Kingsbury has won his second medal of Milano Cortina 2026 and the fifth Olympic medal of his career, taking gold in men’s dual moguls on Sunday.

It is Team Canada’s first gold medal at Milano Cortina 2026, fittingly won by the greatest of all time in his discipline. He is the first freestyle skier to win five Olympic medals.

This was the inaugural men’s dual moguls event at the Olympic Winter Games. In dual moguls, skiers race in head-to-head battles to progress through a competition bracket. But just as in the single moguls, the quality of the turns and airs are important, so it’s not necessarily the fastest skier who wins their heat in the eyes of the judges.

After winning his 1/16 and 1/8 finals, Kingsbury had an easy advancement through his quarterfinal when his opponent, Jung Daeyoon of South Korea, could not finish.

In the semifinals, Kingsbury faced Takuya Shimakawa of Japan, who had upset Sweden’s Walter Wallberg, the 2022 Olympic moguls champion, in the round before. This ended up as an easy win for Kingsbury as well when Shimakawa went awry on his turns.

The big final battle for gold and silver pitted Kingsbury against his longtime friendly rival and fellow father, Ikuma Horishima from Japan. In that final., Horishima lost control of his turns and ended up skiing through the final jump, giving Kingsbury the victory.

Kingsbury has excelled at dual moguls throughout his career, winning five of his nine world titles in the event. But this was his first dual moguls competition of this season.