It was no surprise to see Canada’s Mikael Kingsbury – the greatest Moguls skier of all time – on top of the podium at the Chinese resort of Thaiwoo. But it was one of the best events ever for American Jaelin Kauf, who won both the Moguls on Saturday and the Dual Moguls on Sunday.
Kingsbury has neve lost at Thaiwoo, winning both competitions in 2016, 2017 and 2018. He increased his World Cup wins record to 52 and is a perfect 3-for-3 this season in World Cup competition. He out-pointed Japan’s Ikuma Horishima in the Moguls event and Sweden’s Oskar Elofsson in the Dual Moguls.
Kauf, who has won a World Championships bronze in Moguls, but was seventh in PyeongChang, scored her ninth and 10th career World Cup medals and sixth win. Like Kingsbury, she likes Thaiwoo, having won gold and silver there in 2017.
“I’m stoked,” said Kauf, “Taking back-to-back victories feels amazing and I hope to keep pushing my skiing going further into the season to keep that yellow World Cup leader bib.” Summaries:
FIS Cross Country World Cup
Thaiwoo (CHN) ~ 15-16 December 2018
(Full results here)
Men’s Moguls: 1. Mikael Kingsbury (CAN), 90.31; 2. Ikuma Horishima (JPN), 87.68; 3. Dmitriy Reikherd (KAZ), 86.92; 4. Benjamin Cavet (FRA), 86.15; 5. Daichi Hara (JPN), 81.25.
Men’s Dual Moguls/Big Final: 1. Kingsbury (CAN), 88.99; 2. Oskar Elofsson (SWE), 33.95. Small Final: 3. Benjamin Cavet (FRA), 86.32; 4. Horishima (JPN), 84.20.
Women’s Moguls: 1. Jaelin Kauf (USA), 83.08; 2. Jakara Anthony (AUS), 82.42; 3. Perrine Laffont (FRA), 81.23; 4. Yulia Galysheva (KAZ), 81.20; 5. Chloe Dufour-Lapointe (CAN), 72.79.
Women’s Dual Moguls/Big Final: 1. Kauf (USA), 82.55; 2. Laffont (FRA), 60.26. Small Final: 3. Galysheva (KAZ), 76.85; 4. Hinako Tomitaka (JPN), 75.55.
American Moguls star Jaelin Kauf
