Industry News
Sunday, February 4, saw the Dual Moguls World Cup at the Intermountain Healthcare Freestyle International competitions at Deer Valley, Utah. Australia’s Jakara Anthony took home the victory in a tight dual against Jaelin Kauf, clinching her 11th World Cup victory of the season. This ties Anthony with retired U.S. mogul skier Hannah Kearney for the record of most Freestyle wins in a single season. In the men’s division, Japan’s Ikuma Horishima beat France’s Benjamin Cavet in a neck-on-neck Dual Big Final.
Anthony had crashed on Thursday during the Single Moguls event, breaking her consecutive winning streak at the 23/24 World Cup this season. She returned to the Dual Moguls on Sunday with her usual calm precision, advancing through the heats all the way into the Big Final, where the Australian faced Team USA’s Jaelin Kauf for the third consecutive time this season. Sunday’s victory secures Anthony the Overall Moguls Crystal Globe for the 23/24 season with 1,180 points more than 300 points ahead of Kauf with 854 points. There are only three events left for the season, so even if Jaelin Kauf won all three competitions and Anthony did not compete, the Australian would still be ahead by 26 points. Joining Anthony and Kauf on the podium at Deer Valley was Olivia Giaccio who beat Japan’s Hinako Tomitaka in the Small Final.
On the men’s side, Ikuma Horishima from Japan won the Duals against Benjamin Cavet from France on the famous Champion Run at Deer Valley. This marks Horishima’s fourth Dual Moguls victory of the season and brings him less than 100 points behind Mikael Kingsbury in the season’s standings. Kingsbury lost in the Quarter Final to Benjamin Cavet, after claiming his 87th World Cup victory, beating Ingemar Stenmark’s record.
Rounding out the men’s podium was Team USA’s Dylan Marcellini who beat teammate Nick Page in the Small Final. It is Marcellini’s first-ever career World Cup podium.
The Moguls FIS Freestyle World Cup takes a break for a month before competitions continue at Almatz Kazakstan in early March.
