Canadian Mikaël Kingsbury, the most decorated moguls skier in World Cup history, may be embarking on his fourth and final Olympic cycle.
“Things are different. I’m older. I know it’s probably my last four years,” Kingsbury, 30, said, according to the Canadian Press. “I’ve accomplished so much, very proud of it. Still want to win.”
Kingsbury, the Olympic silver medalist in 2014 and gold medalist in 2018, went into the Olympics in February as one of the biggest favorites across the Winter Games. Then he was shockingly relegated to silver by Swede Walter Wallberg.
He responded by winning all three post-Olympic World Cups in March, extending his moguls record to 74 victories for his career, and earning a record-extending 10th World Cup season title.
Kingsbury and other moguls skiers have something new to look forward to for the 2026 Milano Cortina Winter Games -- the addition of a second medal event, dual moguls, to the program.
Kingsbury is more dominant in dual moguls, where two skiers compete side-by-side, than in the traditional event. He won all six of his World Cup dual moguls starts dating to March 2020 and 16 of his 18 World Cup starts dating to February 2016, plus the last two world championships.
But can he maintain his success into his 30s against younger skiers like Wallberg, who is 22? Kingsbury will be 33 years old come the next Winter Games and older than any previous Olympic moguls medalist (by two days), according to Olympedia.org.
“Back in the day I could go skiing and not stretch,” Kingsbury said, according to the Canadian Press. “My body was recovering very fast. I could fall and still be OK the next day.
“For sure, I’ve still got to still take risks because you cannot accomplish much if you don’t take risks. I try to calculate, do a bit less volume, try to focus on quality, take my time to going back to pushing 100 percent on my skis, just doing things with a bit more of a purpose and be intelligent with what I do.”
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