Mikael Kingsbury won the Olympic title in the debut in history of the parallel competition in the men's baboon discipline of the freestyle skiing tournament at the 2026 Winter Olympics. The competition was included in the Olympic program for the first time, and the 33-year-old Canadian solidified his status as one of the great legends in the sport, BTA reports.
Kingsbury is the Olympic champion in the individual baboons from the 2018 Winter Olympics. At the 2022 Winter Olympics and a few days ago in Livigno, he was left with silver, after being overtaken by Walter Wahlberg and Cooper Woods-Topalovich, respectively.
On the way to gold, the Canadian eliminated Pavel Kolmakov (Kazakhstan), Dejun Jun (Republic of Korea), and in the semifinals he dealt with Takuya Shimakawa.
In the decisive clash, Kingsbury defeated his great rival Ikuma Horishima. The Japanese, the world champion in parallel baboons from Sierra Nevada 2017, took a risk in the final sprint, missed his second jump and received only 5 points from the judges, while the Canadian collected the maximum 30.
In the small final, Matt Graham defeated Takuya Shimakawa with 20:15 points. The Australian is a silver medalist in the individual baboons from Pyeongchang 2018, when he also fell behind Kingsbury.
In parallel baboons, two competitors ride on the same track at the same time, with scores formed based on time, passing through the baboons and execution of the jumps.