ZHANGJIAKOU, China – Just before he got into the starting gate, Mikaël Kingsbury saw American Bradley Wilson being sent off in the middle section of the course. A little earlier, he had witnessed a rare bad descent from the Japanese Ikuma Horishima, who, wanting to push too much, underestimated the height of his second jump to finish in 16th place this first qualifying session of the moguls competition. Beijing Olympics.

Kingsbury, the reigning Olympic champion, saw that the track at Genting Snow Park in the Zhangjiakou Mountains would not forgive any mistakes on an extremely cold and windy Thursday evening. He chose caution. He was rewarded with a first place, which will allow him to avoid Q2 on Saturday.

The 29-year-old hard worker, also a silver medalist in Sochi, landed a back flip somersault at the top of the track and moderately attacked the middle portion. His second jump, an off-axis somersault with a double twist on crossed skis, landed cleanly to earn him 81.15 points from the judges and lead Sweden’s Walter Wallberg by more than two points.

“It’s cool to break the ice and be in first position. […] I didn’t try to do too much. It would have been stupid to push, he explained to the chilled scribes. I know I still have speed juice, I still have two more difficult jumps to do, I can ski better. But for today, with the conditions we had, I’m really satisfied. »

“It’s rock hard, the bumps are square. But Mik grew up on ice bumps, national team coach Michel Hamelin later recalled. Everyone who has tried to push has made major mistakes; some did not make it downstairs. Mik analyzed that, you can see the descents at the top, and he said, ‘I’m going to land my top air (the top jump) and I’m going to chill out. It got into a slightly more neutral position, which helps soak up the bumps. He did that all along.

“What’s crazy is that he didn’t remember his descent when he crossed the finish line. That means he was really, really focused. »

Without saying that he spared himself, Kingsbury only aimed to go directly to Final 1. The information provided by his opponents, he started 24th out of 30, allowed him to modulate his descent.

“It didn’t work to do jumps with a higher degree of difficulty. I didn’t want to win this round. So much the better that I can find myself as high as possible. »

The evening was more difficult for Laurent Dumais. his first Olympics, the hardworking Quebec found himself unbalanced from his first jump and could never recover, finishing in 24th place.

“Laurent perhaps seemed a little nervous, tense at this first Olympic participation,” explained Hamelin. Furious, Dumais did not stop in the mixed zone.

As for Horishima, Kingsbury does not count him beaten.

“I’m a little surprised, but I haven’t seen him on the course much in the last few days,” he noted. Maybe it was a mistake because he didn’t take the bottom jump often enough and went too big. I do not know. What I know is that Ikuma is going to have a good one in Q2, that he will be part of the finals and that he might go far. I don’t take anything for granted. »

Justine in the final

Among the women, Justine Dufour-Lapointe also qualified directly for Final 1 by taking the 10th and last place giving access to it, just ahead of her sister Chloé. Sofiane Gagnon finished in 14th place.

Justine, Olympic champion at the Sochi Games and silver medalist in Pyeongchang, was able to qualify with a very clean run, particularly in the middle section. The lack of amplitude in her first jump cost her precious points in this very tough session, dominated by Australian Jakara Anthony (83.75 points), third in the world rankings.

Chloé and Gagnon also offered good quality runs, but they both had a few hiccups on landing on their second jump, when you had to be perfect on Thursday to slip into the top-10.

“Sofane was also nervous,” Hamelin said. But we are really happy with his position. She made a nice descent. »

“When I arrived, I was really impressed by everything I saw here, admitted the British Columbian. But as we approached the competition, I regained my concentration.

“I was a little surprised to be invited at the last minute (she only got her place following a reallocation of quotas within the five disciplines that make up freestyle skiing), but I think it happened for a reason. It motivated me a lot: I wanted to prove that by giving me this place, it had not been wasted. »

The Beijing Games are not over for Chloé, Gagnon and Dumais. Contrary to the formula used in the World Cup, the moguls have two chances to qualify for the finals. Those who did not finish in the top 10 on Thursday will have the opportunity to try again on Saturday (gents) or Sunday (ladies). A second qualifying session will allow 10 more skiers to access this first final phase.

Of these 20 bosses of the final 1, the 12 best will advance to the next round, or final 2. The first six will qualify for the super-final, in order to compete for a place on the podium.