Mikael Kingsbury of Canada celebrates his win in the men's dual moguls World Cup competition on Feb. 4, 2023, in Park City, Utah.Jeff Swinger
For the King of Moguls, adding to his massive prize collection still provides a rush.
This week Mikaël Kingsbury brought home his latest two medals – gold in singles and dual moguls at the freestyle world championships in Bakuriani, Georgia. He’s now an eight-time world champion with 13 world medals in his collection.
The 30-year-old native of Deux-Montagnes, Que., is the most decorated moguls skier in history. He continues to dominate a riveting sport in which he thunders down a snow-covered course at breakneck speed, manoeuvring around bumpy moguls and executing high-flying aerial tricks before racing across a finish line. The three-time Olympic medalist has already assured himself two more Crystal Globes this year to add to his heaving assembly of trophies.
“The competing part is like a drug to me. I still enjoy it like in my first year,” says the French-Canadian skier. “Some mornings I feel 30 or even 40. But when I’m on my skis I still feel young.”
A few weeks back, while training in the Italian Alps, Kingsbury made some time for a wide-ranging conversation.
What is your idea of perfect happiness?
Being with my loved ones, family, friends and enjoying good food. When everyone around me is healthy and happy.
If not yourself, who would you like to be?
An F1 driver. I would love to feel what it is like to be in the car and racing around the world. Or an astronaut, even though I’ll never be an astronaut because I’m not good enough at school, but I would love to go to space.
What is a book that resonated with you?
I read a lot of athlete biographies. Rafa Nadal’s book was pretty good. I’m not a big reader, but anything athlete related, that’s what I’ve been reading, and stuff about money.
Who is your hero in fiction?
I’ve always been a fan of Batman. He’s a nice superhero, he has fancy cars and he’s a strong guy. He lost his parents and that would not be fun, but I enjoy the character.
Who are your heroes in real life?
In real life there’s so many in sports. I think Roger Federer is a good role model. He’s pure class on the court, his causes, and he has a nice big family. He’s the perfect athlete to me.
Is there someone you’ve always wanted to meet at an Olympics?
I met Sidney Crosby at my first Olympics and that was the guy I wanted most to meet. I saw Shaun White and that was cool. I would have to go to a Summer Olympics to get starstruck. I would love to meet Mikaela Shiffrin. Our sports are totally different but we’re both skiers and we’ve both been winning a lot so it would be nice to chat with her.
What frustrates you?
There’s a lot that’s not going well in the world that frustrates me. There’s some stuff I don’t get, like people that take lives of innocent people, like that guy that drove a bus into a kindergarten in Montreal.
What is your greatest fear?
Spirits.
Sorry, spirits? How do you mean, like ghosts?
Yeah real ghosts. I’m not really scared, like I sleep very well, I have no problem. But people tell stories that they’ve encountered paranormal activities, and I don’t like that. I’ll never be near a Ouija game. If someone’s playing that, I’m leaving. I don’t mess with that stuff. Only positive spirits around me, and I don’t want to get in touch with them, either.
What is your greatest extravagance?
I’ve been pretty smart with my money. There’s stuff that I would like to buy for myself but I don’t really do it. I do like to look at things on the internet and think ‘oh some day’ and then I never buy them. I’d rather spend money on a good vacation, a good steak, good wine. I like watches. I’d love to buy myself a Rolex one day.
If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?
Sometimes I can be impatient.
What is your biggest regret?
I don’t have one. Sometimes I see playback of big runs that I would like to retake but I’m very satisfied with what I’ve done. I reached goals above all my expectation, and I love what I’m doing, I love the team around me. There’s not much I would change. But maybe I should have bought a lot of bitcoin back in the day.
When were you happiest?
I dreamed about winning the Olympics and when I won it, and my mom and dad were there. I remember that I couldn’t sleep because I was hoping this was not a dream. I was 10 years old when I watched my first Olympics and I promised myself that I would make it to the Games. I think it will be hard to top that. One day I hope to be a father and I’m sure that will take over the lead.
Where would you most like to live?
Where I live right now, north of Montreal. I have a new home there and it’s exciting, and it makes me want to go back home when I’m on the road. I guess it would be fun to have a house on a big mountain or next to an ocean, where I could surf in and surf out, or ski in and ski out. If it was close to a golf course, too, I’d be a happy man.
What superstition do you have?
I still wear the same T-shirt since my first World Cup, and I have boxers that, when clean, I wear to compete. That pair of boxers has been with me for a long time, and before that I had the same pair but the elastic wore out.
It’s a Burger King T-shirt, right?
Yeah it says, ‘It’s good to be the king.’ My first day wearing it I got on the podium and I was like, ‘I’m gonna keep wearing it.’ I do other stuff, too. I call my parents before every event and my mom has been telling me the same sentence since I was a kid. I like to hear it before I compete.
What does your Mom say?
[She says it in French] I’ll translate, it’s like ‘don’t go too fast, don’t jump too high and be careful out there.’ She always ends with that. Sometimes I talk to my girlfriend after and she’s good at giving me confidence. She’s like ‘be careful but go for it.’
Being called The King of Moguls feels like …
It feels awesome. It’s a great honour. When I was a kid, JLB [Jean-Luc Brassard] was the boss of moguls. So to become the king of the moguls, there’s not much that can touch that. I still like to hear it.