‘I couldn’t have scripted it better’: Mikael Kingsbury on winning gold in final Olympic Games

Canada’s Mikael Kingsbury says there are ‘more medals to come’ for Team Canada after winning the nation’s first and only gold medal at the Winter Games so far.

Canadian freestyle skier Mikhail Kingsbury is still reveling in his big win over the weekend, going out on top after he vowed to retire after the 2026 Milano-Cortina Winter Olympic Games.

On Sunday, the champion athlete was the first Canadian to win a gold medal in the debut of the dual moguls at the Winter Olympics. It was also the first gold for Canada at the Games.

Speaking from Livigno, Italy, he told CTV News Channel on Monday that while he’s competed in dual moguls at the World Championships and in the World Cup, doing it at the Olympics for the first time was especially fun.

“It’s a different mentality from singles, where you go by yourself,” he said. “We do harder tricks, and you go at your own pace, and do all this, which is more like a race … you want to win the start at the top to put pressure on the guy next to you. Dual moguls is a lot of fun and a bit more adrenaline for us skiers.”

Along with winning a gold medal, he also got to Facetime with Prime Minister Mark Carney, an experience he described as “super cool.”

Considered to be the most decorated freestyle skier of all-time, with a gold-medal win in singles at the 2018 Olympics in PyeongChang, South Korea, the Quebec native plans to retire from the sport after Sunday’s historic win.

“I couldn’t have scripted it better,” he said. “It’s like a movie scenario personally for me. It’s the best way to leave the sport. I always wanted to leave at the top …. I skied yesterday with no regrets.”

Kingbury said having his young son at the bottom of the course was “better than any gold medal,” and that he’s dreamed of having one of his children watch him ski at the end of his career.

“Every time I felt a bit of pressure in these Olympic games, I was just thinking about his face, and it would bring me joy and it was releasing the pressure,” he said.

Kingsbury said it was special to win alongside Ikuma Horishima of Japan, who took the silver, and Matt Graham of Australia, who got the bronze.

“To share that moment with two other dads, that we all have kids about the same age, we’ve been probably the three guys that have the less sleep in the last year and a half,” he said. “But for me, it brings great balance to my life. It was very special to share this moment with these guys and with all of our partners and our kids.”

The night before his big race, Kingbury saw a lot of posts on social media complaining about Canada not winning any gold medals, which helped motivate him.

“I’m happy that I brought that first gold medal to Canada and I hope that’s gonna inspire my fellow Canadians and we’re gonna go on a gold medal streak,” he said.