Olympics
In what was some of the most thrilling action at Livigno this week, the men battled it out for Olympic glory in the inaugural dual moguls on Sunday, February 15. Taking home the gold medal was Mikäel Kingsbury—dubbed “the King”—making it his second Olympic gold after winning the men’s moguls in 2018 in PyeongChang. It is his second medal at these Olympics. Kingsbury had finished second behind Australia’s Copper Wood on Thursday, February 12. With two medals from 2026, it takes the Canadian’s Olympic medal tally to five.
Silver today, February 15, went to Ikuma Horishima, who won bronze in the moguls on Thursday—his second bronze after placing third at the 2022 Olympics. Rounding out the Olympic podium of the inaugural dual moguls was Matt Graham from Australia, who claimed his second Olympic medal after a silver in 2018. The podium was also known as the “dads’ podium,” as all three medalists have a young toddler, who joined them on the podium with their respective partners—a beautiful moment that highlights the importance of a supportive partner in pursuing your Olympic dreams.
The day started with the round of 32, from which 16 athletes advanced to the 1/8 final. Japan’s Takuya Shimakawa advanced after Julien Viel skied outside the course, resulting in an instant DSQ for the Canadian. Defending Olympic champion Walter Wallberg from Sweden beat Australian-American Jackson Harvey, while Daeyoon Jung beat Paul Andrea Gay from France. Kingsbury defeated Pavel Kolmakov from Kazaksthan, while Olympic gold medal winner Cooper Woods from Australia came out of the course in a dual against Charlie Mickel, seeing the 21-year-old advance to the quarter finals. Matt Graham beat Rasmus Stegfeldt from Sweden, while Dylan Walzcy advanced after Australia’s George Murphy came out of the course. Last but not least, Team USA’s Nick Page bowed out to Ikuma Horishima after the American DNFed on the run. It was a lucky advance for Horishima, who lost control on the bottom of the mid-section, came onto the bottom jump sideways, flipped sideways off the jump, crashed, flipped back up, and skied through the finish in switch—not a move we have seen at the Olympics before. To be fair, Hiroshima would have advanced either way because Page had DNFed first, but that cat-like agility certainly is one for the books, and the crowd went wild—the pressure cooker of the dual format was certainly taking its toll.
Facing each other in the first heat of the quarter finals were Wallberg and Shimakawa. The Japanese skier advanced with a score of 19-16 after Wallberg made some technical mistakes in his skiing. Kingsbury advanced without contention after Korea’s Jung came out of the course, while Graham defeated Mickel in a 20-15 heat. Lastly, Horishima advanced to the semi-finals after beating America’s Walczyk 26-9, somehow unscathed from his previous fall.
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Horishima faced Graham while Shimakawa faced Kingsbury in the semis, which saw Kingsbury and Horishima advance to the Big Final, battling it out for gold and silver, while Graham and Shimakawa moved into the Small Final, fighting for the bronze. In a tight final, Australia’s Graham came out triumphant over the Japanese, with a score of 20-15, awarding him his second career Olympic medal.
In the Big Final, Horishima sadly came out of the course in the heat of the moment, awarding his run only 5 points and Kingsbury 30 points, and crowning “the King” Olympic Champion for the second time in his illustrious career. Kingsbury is with 100 World Cup victories the most successful mogul skier of all time and the second-most successful freestyle skier of all time. (Swiss freestyle skier Conny Kissling holds the record with 106 victories in moguls, aerials, and acro/ski ballet. From 1981 to 1992, she won 66 combined, 34 acroski, four moguls, and two aerials World Cups.)
This wraps up the 2026 Olympic moguls events—the first Olympics in which dual moguls is an Olympic event. Team USA walked away with four medals, with Elizabeth Lemley claiming gold and bronze and Jaelin Kauf collecting two silver medals. On the men’s side, Team USA saw three top-7 results. Nick Page finished in seventh in moguls, while Charlie Mickl and Dylan Walczyk finished sixth and seventh, respectively, in the dual moguls.
