The man. The myth. And now, almost certainly the legend.
Mikael Kingsbury (CAN) has won it all. It's only fitting that "The King" capped off his final Olympic appearance with a gold medal in his favorite event.
Kingsbury defeated Japan's Ikuma Horishima on Sunday afternoon in Livigno, Italy, to become the most decorated freestyle skier in Olympic history with five Olympic medals. Matt Graham (AUS) snagged bronze to round out an all-dad podium.
"For us, it's a circle," Kingsbury said. "It's legendary. We're all very close. Ikuma was the first [to become a dad], and Matt and I, our kids were born 10 days apart."
Nearly a year ago, Kingsbury and Horishima faced off on this very course in the final World Cup event of the season. Back then, the master bested the student 20 to 15, and Kingsbury swept all three World Cup moguls season titles (moguls, dual moguls, and overall). This time around was no different.
Horishima had speed, but Kingsbury had patience. Ambition proved to be Horishima's downfall as he overshot his bottom air jump, allowing Kingsbury to soar to the lead and nab his second career Olympic gold. Kingsbury's gold is Canada's first of these Games, the country's longest wait for a gold medal in the Winter Olympics since failing to win any golds hosting the 1988 Calgary Olympic Games.
"It's the cherry on top of five Olympic starts and five medals," Kingsbury said after the race. "I got to win it in 2018 in singles and I got to win it [today] in duals. It's tough to find the words."
Few dominate as Kingsbury does in their respective sport, much less in multiple disciplines. The most decorated moguls skier of all time, "The King" spent the past decade as the man to beat, becoming the all-time World Cup win leader with 29 wins at 23 years old. He's only added to that total, making history this season when he recorded his 100th career World Cup victory, the most of any moguls skier, in Val Saint-Come, Canada. In dual moguls alone, the Canadian has 37 World Cup victories in addition to four consecutive world titles (five in total). Not only is he the first man to have won both the moguls and dual moguls titles at the world championships, but he's swept both events three times.
For all that Kingsbury accomplished, one man continued to be a thorn in his side.
Horishima is never one to back down from a challenge. He is outspoken about his desire to dethrone Kingsbury and take the crown for himself, and the runs that he throws down back up that ambition. In 2018, Horishima ended Kingsbury's 13-win streak on the World Cup circuit to take home his maiden World Cup victory. In the years since, he notched several notable victories against Kingsbury, including a world championship win over the Canadian in moguls last year.
This face-off was four years in the making after both were unable to overcome Walter Wallberg (SWE) in Beijing. After finding themselves in the same positions on Thursday when Cooper Woods (AUS) surprised the world to take gold in moguls, the rivals were eager for a second chance at gold. It wasn't meant to be for Horishima, but he finished these Games as the most decorated Japanese freestyle skier of all time.
Graham finished ahead of Takuya Shimakawa (JPN) in a tense small final race. The Aussie came out ahead with 20 points to Shimakawa's 15 to earn his second Olympic medal. This is Graham's first major podium finish in dual moguls since the 2025 World Championships, where Kingsbury, Horishima, and Graham stood in the same spots they found themselves in on Sunday.
"We did it at the World Cup, and we did it at world championships last year, and to do it here at the Games is something very special," Graham said of sharing the podium with his fellow dads. "In that start gate I knew what was at stake, I knew it was up to me to fulfil that dream for us. This bronze means so much to me."
American teammates Charlie Mickel and Landon Wendler faced each other in the first round, and although both were evenly matched for a majority of the duel, Wendler wobbled after landing his bottom air jump, falling to Mickel. Mickel went on to beat Woods in the Round of 16 but fell to Graham in the quarterfinals.
Nick Page (USA) crashed out of competition during his quarterfinal run against Horishima, losing control and skiing out of bounds. Although Horishima didn't fare much better himself, overshooting his bottom air and crossing the finish line backwards, he advanced after Page was disqualified for skiing beyond the course flags. Like Page, fellow American Dylan Walczyk advanced to the quarterfinals, and although he didn't crash, he was unable to surpass Horishima.