Mikaël Kingsbury breezes through Olympic moguls qualifying, promises more to come

Canadian moguls star Mikael Kingsbury breezed through qualifying Tuesday at the Milano Cortina Olympics, promising there is more to come.

World champion Ikuma Horishima of Japan topped the 30-man freestyle skiing qualifying field with a score of 85.42 at Livigno Aerials and Moguls Park in Livigno, Italy.

Quebec City's Julien Viel was second at 79.56 with Kingsbury third at 79.11 while Elliot Vaillancourt of Drummondville, Que., was 16th at 73.48.

Horishima skied immediately after Kingsbury, knocking the Canadian out of top spot. Kingsbury was unfazed and unimpressed.

"Ikuma does his things," Kingsbury said in French. "He raced like a final today, but the Olympic Games won't be won today. He does what he wants, but I like the scenario that is building up."

The 33-year-old from Deux-Montaignes, Que., finished runner-up to Horishima in the moguls at the March 2025 test event at Livigno. The Canadian won the dual moguls the next day, with Horishima second.

The top 10 progress directly to Final 1 at the games. The rest get a second chance via a second round of qualifying, with 10 more advancing. The top eight competitors after Final 1 then go after the medals in Final 2.

The men's qualifying Tuesday was followed by the women, whose second round of qualifying and final goes Wednesday followed by the men Thursday.

Competing in his fourth Olympics, Kingsbury is looking to add to his existing medal haul of one gold, from Pyeongchang in 2018, and two silver, from Sochi in 2014 and Beijing in 2022.

"Mission accomplished," said Kingsbury. "Not my best but we're through … The good part is I can go faster. I can improve my skiing and I can upgrade my two jumps."

Kingsbury showed his steely side Tuesday when asked about Horishima's