Olympics
Today, Australia’s Cooper Woods wrote his own fairytale, taking victory in the men’s moguls after never having won a single World Cup. The 25-year-old Woods has one podium from Waterville, New Hampshire, to his name from two years ago, but was certainly not a favorite going into the finals.
But let’s start at the beginning. The day started with qualifying round two to give another 10 moguls skiers a chance at the final—Cooper Woods was one of them after having finished 15th in the first qualifying round on Tuesday. In addition to Woods, moving on from the second round to the finals were, amongst others, Woods’ teammate Harvey Jackson, as well as Team USA’s Charlie Mickel and Landon Wendler.
The first final whittled down these top 20 men to eight finalists—and it was a tough field. Cooper Woods moved into the finals in first place, followed by Canada’s legendary Mikael Kingsbury, who has 100 World Cup victories and 2018 Olympic gold to his name, in second; Olympic silver medallist Matt Graham from Australia in third; Sweden’s Walter Wallberg—the 2022 Olympic champion—in fourth; three-time World Champion Ikuma Horishima in fifth; Nick Page in sixth; Canada’s Julien Viel in seventh; and Harvey Jackson, who is at his first Olympics, in eighth.
Starting in reverse order, Harvey Jackson put down a fast run with a huge back full on the top air and a cork-7 on the bottom, skiing fast and with only minor mistakes, to score 74.93 points.
Canada’s Julien Viel delivered a solid run with a back double full and a cork-7 that moved him ahead of Jackson with 79.78 points.
Next up was Nick Page, who showed a cork-7 on the top air and a cork-10 on the bottom, but some minor mistakes on the turns gave him deductions despite the great tricks, putting him between Harvey and Viel with 75.00 points.
Ikuma Horishima put himself in the lead with a back double full on the top air, a fast run, and a massive cork-1440 on the bottom air, which not only sent the crowd erupting in cheers but also scored him a solid 83.44 points.
Next up was defending Olympic champion Walter Wallberg, who started with a back double full on the top air, flew down the mid-section, and stomped a cork-7 with grab on the bottom air to score 82.40 points. This slotted him behind Horishima in second, and with three skiers left to go, the podium was far from decided.
Australia’s Matt Graham sent the throngs of Aussies into massive cheers, but the 2018 silver medallist fell short, scoring only 80.88 points despite an impressive big double full, a fast run, and a big cork-10 on the bottom air. This put Graham into third behind Horishima and Wallberg, and there were still two skiers left to go.
Canada’s Kingsbury did not disappoint, flying into the lead with a double back full, a pretty much flawless run, and a clean cork-10 on the bottom air that scored him 83.71 points.
Last up was Cooper Woods, who delivered a technically clean run, a smooth back double full on the top air, and a high cork-7 with grab on the bottom, which he stomped flawlessly to score 83.71 points.
While it tied Woods with Kingsbury in score, the gold went to the Australian, as under Olympic rules a tie in moguls is broken by whoever received the higher turns score. The Australian crowd in Livigno went crazy as the underdog delivered the much longed-for first gold for the land from Down Under. Kingsbury was naturally frustrated to be relegated to silver, and Canadians have been debating the fairness of the rule, but such are the rules, and they even apply to ‘the King.’
”It hasn’t sunk in yet,” Cooper Woods said after the race. “Speechless, super emotional, very proud,” he summed up his feelings after winning the gold.
The moguls fun continues on Saturday and Sunday with the women’s and men’s dual moguls in Livigno.
