Industry News
On Thursday, February 1, the first day of FIS Freestyle World Cup competitions at Deer Valley, UT, was held, which was the Moguls World Cup. U.S. athlete Olivia Giaccio came home with the victory, while teammate Jaelin Kauf finished in second. Giaccio stomped a fantastic Cork 1080, sealing the victory for the 23-year-old. Moguls competitions are judged on turns (60%), air (20%), and time (20%).
In total a staggering five U.S. women had qualified for the six-person Super Final: Olivia Giacciao, Jaelin Kauf, Hannah Soar, Alli Macuga, and Kasey Hogg. The only non-American competitor was Japan’s Hinako Tomitaka, who finished in third place. Hannah Soar finished in fourth, Alli Macuga in fifth, and Kasey Hogg in sixth place. Favorite Jakara Anthony from Australia, who had gone into the Final 16 in first place, fumbled her top air, resulting in a crash and her missing out on the six-person Super Final.
Giaccio’s cork10 was the first 1080 to have won a women’s Moguls competition. Olivia Giaccio was also the first woman ever to land a cork 1080 in a Moguls competition in January 2022 in Tremblant, Canada.
The event at Deer Valley is certainly the highlight on the Moguls World Cup calendar and is considered the “Super Bowl of Freestyle Skiing.” In front of a roaring home crowd, filled with friends, family, and dedicated moguls fans, Giaccio skied to her victory. “It was just incredible. That was my first Deer Valley podium,” said Giaccio. “To do it under the lights with my friends and family, seal in with a win and to get the first (women’s) moguls win with a 1080 in the run was incredible. Something I’ve dreamed of.”
The men’s event was won by none other than the King of the moguls, Mikael Kingsbury from Canada. It marks Kingsbury’s 87th career victory, beating the record set by Ingemar Stenmark for most World Cups won by a man in a skiing event. While Stenmark of course was competing as an Alpine athlete, Kingsbury has taken the lead with Freestyle events. The record for most World Cup wins by any skier is held of course by Mikaela Shiffrin.
Second place went to Ikuma Horishima from Japan, while third place went to young gun Filip Gravenfors from Sweden who relegated his teammate, 2022 Olympic Gold medallist Walter Wallberg to fourth. Finishing in fifth place was U.S. athlete Nick Page who was the only U.S. man to have qualified for the six-person Super Final. “I’m happy, really happy,” said Page after the competition. “After a poor performance last year, I definitely wanted to come back with some vengeance this year. It really felt like everything came together. And landing that 14 in front of the home crowd was pretty cool. I could hear the cheers right when I finished and it was electric.”
Team USA’s Landon Wendler came eighth, Charlie Mickel 10th, Cole McDonald 11th, and Dylan Walczyk 13th.
The Freestyle World Cup at Deer Valley continues on Friday with an Aerials event and Dual Moguls on Saturday.
