A familiar Canadian athlete and his teammate, a fresh face on the dual moguls World Cup circuit, reached the medal podium on Saturday in Valmalenco, Italy.
Two-time Olympic medallist Mikaël Kingsbury finished second to Japan’s Ikuma Horishima in the men’s final while Julien Viel captured his first-ever World Cup medal when he defeated American Dylan Walczyk for bronze in the small final.
Kingsbury’s achievement came one week after the native of Deux-Montagnes, Que., won his 78th career World Cup gold medal at an event in Park City, Utah.
Kingsbury strengthened his lead atop the dual moguls World Cup standings and holds a 362-294 edge over Sweden’s Walter Wallberg, who finished ninth on Saturday.
The 30-year-old Kingsbury also surpassed 800 points in the overall moguls standings with 802, having clinched the top spot over Horishima (578 points).
WATCH | Kingsbury claims silver medal in Valmalenco, Italy:
The Canadian legend grabbed his ninth medal of the year with a second-place finish in Valmalenco.
Viel’s previous best finish in dual moguls on the World Cup stage was 11th on Jan. 28, earned on home snow in Val Saint-Come, Que.
The 21-year-old from Mont-Saint-Anne, Que., also cracked the top 10 on Feb. 2 in the moguls event with a ninth-place finish at Deer Valley in Park City and sits 10th in the World Cup standings.
WATCH | Viel wins 1st World Cup medal:
The Mont-Saint-Anne, Quebec native finished third in Valmalenco for dual moguls bronze.
Elliot Vaillancourt, who finished 14th in Italy, remains the No. 2 Canadian with 215 points with Viel two behind in 13th.
Gabriel Dufresne (15th) and Brenden Kelly (30th) rounded out the Canadian men’s results on Saturday.
In the women’s competition, Saskatoon’s Maïa Schwinghammer was the top Canadian in 12th, followed by Laurianne Desmarais-Gilbert of Sainte-Adèle, Que. (19th) and Aurora, Ont., native Berkley Brown (23rd).
Perrine Laffont of France won the event, while American Elizabeth Lemley and Japan’s Anri Kawamura won silver and bronze, respectively.
Laffont leads the women’s overall moguls World Cup standings with 750 points, with Schwinghammer top Canadian in 10th.
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