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World Cup wrap: 1-2 finish for Kingsbury, Bilodeau

Whistler's Hicks 19th at first moguls test in Finland; Olympic sliding teams named
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THE BOYS TO BEAT

Mikael Kingsbury and Alex Bilodeau reminded everyone who the favourites will be come Olympic time, opening the World Cup moguls tour with a one-two finish in Finland.

World champion Kingsbury topped the podium in Ruka on Saturday, Dec. 14 by edging Olympic champ Bilodeau in the first event of the season. Japan's Sho Endo finished third, while Whistler's Eddie Hicks placed 19th.

Kingsbury won the season-opener for the third year in a row, scoring a 26.93 in the superfinal to beat out Bilodeau's impressive run (26.54).

"I love Ruka," said Kingsbury. "I had my first World Cup podium here in 2010. Now I have four podiums in four events."

Australia's Dale Begg-Smith, the 2006 Olympic gold medallist who learned to ski in Whistler as a child, competed for the first time since 2010 and finished fifth.

Hicks, who missed nearly all of last season due to injuries from a training crash at Ruka, scored a 22.19 in the qualifying round but fell just short of the top 16 skiers advancing to the final.

In an email to Pique, Hicks said it was tough getting back into his first event but that there were encouraging signs in his skiing.

"It's for sure been a longer road back from injury than I thought it would be," he said. "The little things are always the last to come back, but the past few days my skiing has really been coming back to competition form and I've been pretty stoked."

Other Canadian results included Philippe Marquis in 10th place, Pascal-Olivier Gagne finishing 12th and Marc-Antoine Gagnon placing 24th. With Kingsbury and Bilodeau's results officially confirming their place in Sochi, no more than two other Canadian men will be able to qualify for the Olympics.

Quebec's Justine Dufour-Lapointe finished second in the women's event, won by U.S. skier Hannah Kearney. Chloe Dufour-Lapointe placed fifth for Canada, Audrey Robichaud was ninth and B.C.'s Andi Naude finished 16th.

DUCKWORTH MAKES FIRST FINAL

Alexandra Duckworth notched a career-best World Cup finish as the women's World Cup snowboard halfpipe circuit continued at Ruka, but had to squeeze a fellow Whistler rider out of the finals to do it.

Duckworth placed sixth on Friday, Dec. 13 for the top Canadian result in men's or women's competition. The Nova Scotia native was unable to land a clean run in the six-rider final but was happy with her finish.

"This was my first World Cup final and I'm really excited about my showing here," she said. "Unfortunately I think I felt some fatigue in the finals and fell both times on my biggest trick."

Duckworth earned the second of two entries to the final with a score of 63.75 during Friday's semis, while Whistler's Mercedes Nicoll ended up third at 63.00 and had to settle for a seventh-place finish.

"I changed up my run for the semis. I went for an easier run and kinda messed up on my last hit," Nicoll said in an email to Pique. "Being .75 out from finals was frustrating for sure, but lesson learned ... I don't want to walk away from a contest knowing I could have done more."

China's Shuang Li won the event. Canadian riders Katie Tsuyuki and Calynn Irwin finished 11th and 12th, respectively.

Ontario's Brad Martin had the best Canadian finish in the men's event by placing eighth. Pemberton's Crispin Lipscomb finished 16th, Whistler rider Derek Livingston was 17th and fellow local Kyle Thomas placed 22nd.

GOUGH GRABS BRONZE, HEADLINES SOCHI SQUAD

Calgary's Alex Gough returned to the World Cup luge podium Friday at Park City, Utah, capturing bronze in the women's event just one week removed from her silver in Whistler.

Gough collected her 14th career World Cup medal by sliding in behind a one-two German finish by Natalie Geisenberger and Anke Wischnewski. Kim McRae finished 10th for the Canadian team.

Also Friday, Tristan Walker and Justin Snith finished eighth for Canada in doubles competition. Veteran national team member Sam Edney was also eighth in men's racing Saturday.

Gough, Edney, Walker and Snith finished fourth in team relay competition from Park City. The World Cup tour now breaks until early January, when it will resume races at Königssee, Germany.

The Canadian Luge Association also announced the Olympic team roster during an event Tuesday, Dec. 17 in Calgary, which included all relay squad members, McRae and men's competitors John Fennell and Mitchel Malyk. Arianne Jones and Jordan Smith were scheduled to race-off for the final spot on the women's team in Sochi at the Calgary track on Wednesday and Thursday, Dec. 18 and 19.

HUMPHRIES, MOYSE BACK ON TOP

Just one week after Kaillie Humphries had her incredible run of podium finishes snapped, she reunited with brakeman Heather Moyse to grab gold during the World Cup women's bobsleigh race at Lake Placid this past weekend.

Humphries had finished in the top three in 15 consecutive races before snowy conditions pushed her off the podium, sans fellow Olympic champ Moyse, in Park City the previous weekend. But with Moyse back from injury for the Dec. 14 race in New York, Humphries had the two quickest starts and runs of the day.

The Humphries-Moyse victory was the major highlight out of Lake Placid for the Canadian team, which had its own Olympic team announced on Monday, Dec. 16.

Eleven men — including pilots Lyndon Rush, Chris Spring and Justin Kripps — were selected to the team, while Luke Demetre and Graeme Rinholm are still vying for a spot. Humphries, Moyse, Jenny Ciochetti and Chelsea Valois were named to the women's squad and Emily Baadsvik is still chasing a team nomination.

FIRST FOUR NAMED TO SKELETON SQUAD

After starting the season off the national team's World Cup skeleton team roster, former Olympic medallist Mellisa Hollingsworth was named to the team representing Canada in Sochi this February. Reigning Olympic champion Jon Montgomery, however, will still have to battle his way to the Games.

Bobsleigh Canada Skeleton announced Wednesday, Dec. 18 that Hollingsworth and Sarah Reid will be racing at the Olympics this winter, and also named Eric Neilson and John Fairbairn to the men's team.

That leaves one spot up for grabs on both the men's and women's teams, which will be filled in mid-January if Canada is awarded the quota spot based on world rankings.

For the men, that means it will likely come down to a battle between Montgomery and Dave Greszczyszyn, who have each earned one Olympic qualifying result over the past two seasons so far.

For the final women's spot, the frontrunners are co-Canadian champs Cassie Hawrysh and Robynne Thompson.

Fairbairn and Hollingsworth led the Canadian performances at Lake Placid last weekend, with Fairbairn placing sixth in his race and Hollingsworth returning to the World Cup circuit to post a pair of eighth-place results over two races at the stop.