Olympics Men’s Moguls Final medal results, highlights and more
By Zach Bigalke
The men got their turn on the moguls in Pyeongchang on Monday. Who came out on top in the hunt for the freestyle skiing medals?
For the third straight Winter Olympics, a Canadian topped the podium in men’s moguls. After finishing second behind compatriot and rival Alexandre Bilodeau four years ago, Mikaël Kingsbury finally captured a long-sought gold medal.
The three-run finals round offered the chance for the six qualified finalists to jostle back and forth for the lead. Kingsbury just kept getting better and better as the skiers went through their moguls runs.
Kingsbury punctuated what has been among the greatest men’s moguls careers in history with the ultimate prize. Coming into the last of three finals runs, Kingsbury was sitting in second place. Knowing that he was assured of a medal for the second straight Olympiad, Kingsbury went out and put together a next-level performance that swept the top spot of the podium by more than four full points in the scoring.
MEDAL RESULT | Men's Moguls
Mikaël Kingsbury
Matt Graham
Daichi Hara
In the process, Kingsbury relegated Australia’s Matt Graham to the silver spot. The Australian managed to hold on to the position when Japan’s Daichi Hara fell 0.38 points short on his final run. Hara came into the last run of the finals in the lead. But both Graham and Kingsbury saved their best runs for last.
Shifts to the scoring system in freestyle moguls since the Sochi Winter Olympics make it harder to compare the numbers between Kingsbury’s gold and previous winning performances in the event. However you parse the numbers, though, Kingsbury emerged triumphant. The Canadian’s performance was one of the most dominant displays in the 26-year Olympic history of the freestyle sport.
Rounding out the field at Phoenix Park was fourth-placed Marc-Antoine Gagnon of Canada, American moguls specialist Casey Andringa in fifth, and Norway’s Vinjar Slatten bringing up the rear.