Mikael Kingsbury of Canada reacts after crossing the finish line in first place during the World Cup Freestyle moguls finals competition in Calgary January 28, 2012.Reuters
There was a time when Mikael Kingsbury looked up to Olympic freestyle moguls champion Alex Bilodeau. He asked for his autograph. He was his version of an NHL player. He idolized him.
On Thursday night on a balmy evening in Deer Valley, Utah, Kingsbury defeated his hero and equalled a world record at the same time, winning his sixth consecutive World Cup event.
Nobody had done such a thing since 2005 when American Jeremy Bloom was dominating the sport. Not even Bilodeau himself.
Bilodeau, who is competing sparingly this season as he focuses on university, finished second to the 19-year-old kid from Deux-Montagnes, Que.
Kingsbury glowed at equalling the record of Bloom, a skier he admired when he was young. The 19-year-old Canadian will have a chance to break the record on Saturday, when he competes in the dual moguls, where again, he will have to face the mighty Bilodeau, five years his senior.
"Today was just crazy," Kingsbury said after the race. "It's one of the hardest courses in the world, and there's so many people watching. It's a night event. It's like the Super Bowl of freestyle skiing."
Kingsbury said he's never been so happy to win in his career. This win was special.
Kingsbury won with a score of 25.90 points, after nailing his double back flip on his first jump and a cork 720 on the second. Bilodeau's score was 25.60, a shade behind.
"I thought they both showed incredible poise," said Canadian head coach Peter Judge. "They both put it all on the table. There was no holding back. They really laid it out there, especially Alex, having been on intermittently this season. He went really hard.
Bilodeau flew down the hill about a second and a half ahead of everybody else on the final run, pushing Kingsbury hard.
"I was really proud of Mik, too, under so much pressure, to put down the run he did," Judge said. "It was quite amazing."
Kingsbury said he ignored the pressure Thursday. He focused only on doing the run the best way he could. "When I ski my best, the results come," he said. "I'm super happy about my consistency this year."
Canada's newest moguls superstar lapped up the tricks and the teachings of two Olympic champions, Bilodeau and Jennifer Heil while training in Montreal. And they taught him all too well.
Kingsbury also competed against Bilodeau three weeks ago at Mont Gabriel, Que., and defeated him, then, too.
The 2002 Olympic site in Utah has been good to Kingsbury, who won a silver medal in dual moguls and a bronze in moguls at the world championships last year.
This season, Kingsbury remains undefeated on the World Cup circuit and with Thursday's effort, he keeps the yellow bib, signifying that he is the overall points leader in the moguls event in the world. And he's delivering a loud message that he'll be the man to watch at the Sochi Olympics two years hence. But then again, so will Bilodeau.
"It's always fun to race against Alex," Kingsbury said. "He's one of the best in the world. He is skiing so great today. He was so fast. Because of him, I had to push in the final and the superfinal. I pushed to my max and got the win, but Alex pushed me all the way."
Kingsbury said it was an honour to be on the medal podium with Bilodeau. Bilodeau said Kingsbury is skiing up to his potential.
"It's always fun to have somebody next to us on the same team to push you," Bilodeau said.
As for Bilodeau, watch him while you can, because his appearance on Saturday will be his final race of the season.
Although Bilodeau has raced seldom this season, he said he's been working hard to make some changes to his technique, on the way his body absorbs the forces of moguls, on the touch of his ski on the snow, on his feeling in the air. He's working for the next two years, he said.
He had a great second run on Thursday, but in the superfinal, he decided to let himself go in the middle section, where he made a couple of bobbles. "Maybe I let it go too much," he said. "I'm not 100 per cent comfortable with the changes I've made in my skiing. It wasn't clean like I can be. "
His break will work well for him, he said. "I'll start training earlier for next season," Bilodeau said. "I'll be more than ready for next season."