Mikael Kingsbury puts on rock star performance in PyeongChang

PYEONGCHANG, South Korea — From the moment you walked into the Phoenix Snow Park in PyeongChang on Monday, you could tell something special was about to go down.

Mikael Kingsbury represented one of Canada’s best medal hopefuls — as sure a thing as the country had to bringing home gold. He’s a rock star and he put on one hell of a show on the biggest stage, a crescendo that culminated with a near perfect final run.

He finished with an absurd score of 86.63 — four points clear of the leader, with Japan’s Daichi Hara needing a miracle to bump Kingsbury off the top of the podium. Even before it was over, you knew it was over.

When he hit the bottom of the hill, Kingsbury unleashed a trio of hearty fist pumps and the large and loud cowbell-clanging Canadian contingency in attendance erupted in cheers.

It was never in doubt.

“I have dreamed about this day one million times,” Kingsbury said after the race.

“I dreamed about it again last night. It is unbelievable. I am the Olympic champion and I will be for the rest of my life.”

The most touching moment of the night came after the race when Kingsbury embraced his parents, who had the best seats in the house to watch their son do what he does best: win. Their reaction was priceless.

Even before winning gold, Kingsbury was already the biggest star and the most decorated moguls skier in the sport’s history. Nobody has taken home more Crystal Globes (6), more World Championship medals (7) or won more races (48). Not to mention an Olympic silver medal. The only thing that was missing was the gold.

The buzz around Kingsbury is well warranted, even if most Canadians only get to catch a glimpse of him every four years.

In the hours leading up to Kingsbury’s big moment, fans at Canada House came alive when three tickets to the event were offered up to the first people who pulled Canadian Tire money out of their wallet. A Toronto scalper who made the trip to South Korea said tickets to the event were in high demand. But those who shelled out $200 to mosh it up in the pit, or dropped $90 to sit on frozen bleachers — or threw down a few Canadian Tire bills — definitely got their money’s worth.

Olympic luger Sam Edney was there, standing under the bright lights amidst the fans and his Canadian teammates in the freezing cold confidently predicting that Kingsbury would nail his final run.

There were the two Canucks in attendance who made the trek from Quebec to South Korea to work as volunteers during the Games, and they finally got to catch a glimpse of Kingsbury live in person, something they never got the chance to do in their home province.

Even the locals in attendance couldn’t help but marvel at Kingsbury’s magic.

At 25 years old, Kingsbury’s already done it all — he doesn’t have too many more mountains to climb. But no great performance is complete without an encore. It’s just too bad it’ll be four years before the Kingsbury show returns to the big stage.

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