Canada’s Kingsbury opens World Cup season with moguls victory in Finland

Dec 4, 2021 | 10:10 AM

RUKA, Finland — Canadian freestyle skier Mikael Kingsbury opened the World Cup season with a moguls victory Saturday at the same venue where he suffered a back injury a year earlier.

He earned his 66th career World Cup win with a score of 82.99 points, finishing just ahead of Kazakhstan’s Pavel Kolmakov (82.10). Japan’s Ikuma Horishima was third with 81.12.

Kingsbury, from Deux-Montagnes, Que., fractured his T4 and T5 vertebrae during a training run late last year, forcing the Olympic champion to miss the first three World Cups of the season.

When he returned last winter, he won two World Cups and two world titles.