Four years ago, Cooper Woods (AUS) skied to a surprise 6th-place finish in his Olympic debut in Beijing, China. On Thursday, he surprised the world again.
Woods dethroned "The King" Mikael Kingsbury (CAN) to win Olympic gold in the men's moguls final in Livigno, Italy. Japan's Ikuma Horishima won bronze.
Both Woods and Kingsbury tied at 83.71 points, but it was Woods' turn component score — 0.7 points higher than Kingsbury's — that settled the tiebreak.
"I didn't have any expectations this morning," Woods said. "I just wanted to go out and ski my runs and stay true to what I know I can achieve. I am amazed that I got it done. It’s not often that you get one over Mikael, so I’ll take it when I can.”
This is by far Woods' biggest win of his career given he's only ever stood on a World Cup podium once when he finished second in Waterville Valley, New Hampshire, in 2024. Woods was a wildcard no one saw coming after he was forced to miss the 2024-25 season due to a knee injury. He recently returned to competition with a brand new knee and a renewed determination to compete against the best of the best.
"I've struggled with belief, especially this season," Woods said. "The competition side hasn't been great, but the training has been unbelievable. So, it's nice to put it down when it all matters.”
Woods finished outside the top 10 in the first round of men's moguls qualification. He kicked into second gear Thursday, not only winning the second round of qualification, but also taking the top spot in the final.
A three-time Olympic medalist, including a gold earned in 2018, Kingsbury takes home this third consecutive silver. The Canadian is now tied with Elieen Gu (CHN) as the most decorated freestyle skiers in Olympic history with four medals.
During the final, Kingsbury completed a double full, landing on the tail of his skis to place second behind Woods. He completed a cleaner back double full during his superfinal run but was unable to best the Aussie's turn technique.
“I feel amazing," Kingsbury said. "I’m very happy with my skiing. It was close, a tiebreak. Unfortunately, I’m the guy not on the good side of it. But I’ve worked very hard for this medal."
Few athletes have dominated a sport as long as Kingsbury has dominated moguls. The 33-year-old is the most decorated freestyle skier of all time. He became the all-time World Cup win leader when he was 23 years old and hasn't looked back since. For 10 years, "The King" has ruled the sport, holding the record for the most men's moguls World Cup victories with 100, which he set this season after coming back from a groin injury. With a 60 percent win percentage over 17 years of competing, he's drawn comparisons to the likes of Roger Federer and Mikaela Shiffrin for his sheer dominance.
Horishima landed a cork 1440, one of the most difficult tricks in the sport, to claim the bronze. A fall back on the tail of his skis during his landing earned him 83.44 points.
Horishima doesn't know the meaning of the word conservative. The current leader of the FIS World Cup standings goes all out no matter the round of the competition, a trait that was on full display during all three of his runs in Italy. His opening run in the first round of qualification round scored over 85 points, immediately announcing his presence as the athlete to beat at these Games.
The 28-year-old, who claimed bronze four years ago in Beijing, has been knocking on Kingsbury's door for a while. He upset Kingsbury at last year's world championships, snapping his streak of three consecutive victories in the moguls event. It wasn't enough to do the same at these Games, but it was enough to secure a podium position.
Sitting 3rd in the World Cup rankings, Nick Page was the sole American to qualify for the superfinal, where he finished 7th.
At 23, he's claimed six World Cup podiums and a 5th-place finish at his first Olympic Games in Beijing, where he was the youngest man to compete in the Olympic medal round in the past decade.
Fellow American Charlie Mickel had better absorption than most while navigating the bumps of the course, placing 12th overall with 78.03 points.
"I thought it was a great run, and I was hoping for an 80 for sure," he told NBC. "I feel like I did pretty much everything I could on my end."
Mickel sits just behind Page in the World Cup rankings in 5th after advancing to three World Cup superfinals this season. Teammate Dylan Walczyk, a two-time Olympian that has been on the World Cup circuit since 2013, scored less than half a point behind Mickel.
Landon Wendler (USA), another first-time Olympian, placed 17th after landing a cork 1080 but struggling to land his bottom air jump.
Men's Moguls Medalists
🥇Cooper Woods (AUS)
🥈Mikael Kingsbury (CAN)
🥉Ikuma Horishima (JPN)
Moguls continues with the women's dual moguls event on Saturday, Feb. 14, at 4:30 a.m.