LIVIGNO, Italy — The sun finally came out in Livigno on Sunday morning, illuminating the Livigno Aerials Moguls Park course for the inaugural dual moguls at an Olympics. The always dominant Mikael Kingsbury of Canada won gold, Japan’s Ikuma Horishima took silver and Australia’s Matt Graha m bronze. But not without some fight from Park City’s Charlie Mickel and Nick Page, who were eliminated in the quarterfinals and round of 16, respectively. All four American entries had strong crowd support, including Dylan Walczyk, who was eliminated in the quarterfinals by Horishima, and Landon Wendler, whom Mickel took out in round one. The Mickels contingent that traveled to the Games was over 20 people strong to cheer him on in his first Games. “It’s been really fun,” Mickel said. “There’s a ton of excitement. … It’s been a little bit eye-opening to see how much attention we get at the Olympics compared to a World Cup. It’s pretty crazy.” Mickel took some confidence from besting moguls gold medalist Cooper Woods of Australia in the round of 16. Mickel laid down a strong run, and Woods, trailing Mickel, picked up too much speed and had to bail out of the second and final jump. Charlie Mickel took out Australian moguls gold medalist Cooper Woods before falling in the quarterfinals to Australian Matt Graham, who won Sunday’s bronze medal. Credit: David Jackson/Park Record “I think I proved in that dual that I can be a medal contender,” Mickel said. “I think there’s a ton of opportunity for me. I’m still young and I could easily go through the 2030 Olympics. There’s guys who are a lot older than 29 competing here and that’s how old I’ll be by then (2034).” He said he’s part of a surging U.S. men’s team. “I’ve been skiing moguls with Charlie my entire life,” said Freddie Mickel, Charlie’s 19-year-old brother who is ranked 10th on the Nor-Am Cup circuit, a level just below the World Cup tour. “To get to watch him ski on the world’s biggest stage is just incredible.” Mickel’s family donned U.S. flags with his name on them and held up signs from when he was a young skier. He embraced and thanked them for their support after the contest. “I’m really super proud of him and happy for him,” said his mother, Molly Mickel. “He was thrilled to have us all here. We all love him so much and we’re so proud of who he is and how he represents himself.” Mickel’s brother Benji Mickel said he was off to Miky’s Disco Club across the street from the Livigno Snow Park to celebrate. Charlie Mickel meets up with his family, including his mom Molly, to his left, after Sunday’s competition. Credit: David Jackson/Park Record “I think we’re putting on a great show,” Page said. “Ikuma was a hard matchup to get that early. So I really had to push hard and I think he was pushing hard, too. We both made big mistakes. I just ended up making mine a little too soon.” Page bailed out of the course in its midsection, disqualifying himself, while Horishima stumbled and miscalculated his second jump, stumbling again and avoiding a massive crash by finishing the course facing backwards. Page and Horishima shared a laugh in the finish area, while the crowd applauded Horishima’s spectacular save. “Against Ikuma, there was no margin for error,” Page said. “I needed to go 100%, and that’s what I did. So I can walk away knowing I did everything that I could and I just need to go back to training to get better and to be able to handle that in the future.” Page is close friends with Horishima and Kingsbury, who won moguls silver and bronze medals on Thursday. Kingsbury, 33, and Horishima, 28, make up the older guard in the sport. Kingsbury and Horishima also won the silver and bronze medals, respectively, in the 2022 Beijing Games. Parkite Nick Page, left, completes his round of 16, losing to eventual silver medalist Ikuma Horishima. Horishima finished facing backward after a stumble off the bottom jump. Credit: David Jackson/Park Record Kingsbury, who’s won 100 World Cups, a gold medal in the 2018 Olympics and a silver in the 2014 Games, showed why he was referred to often on Sunday as the “King.” He took out Japanese skier Takuya Shimikawa in the semifinals, then Horishima in the finals. Kingsbury skied a clean finals run, forcing Horishima to redline, catching too much speed bailing out of his final jump. After a heartbreaking conclusion Thursday, when Woods tied Kingsbury in points, but got the win due to a higher turn score for the tiebreaker, Kingsbury’s relief was palpable Sunday. He roared through the finish line, slid into the barrier padding, and put his head with a big smile into the snow, pounding it several times in joy. On the podium, Kingsbury breathed a few sighs of relief and held the gold medal to the Canadian emblem on his jacket. Kingsbury’s won his country’s first gold medal at these Games. “It’s the cherry on top of five Olympic starts and five medals,” Kingsbury said to NBC Olympics after the race. “I got to win it in 2018 in singles, and I got to win it in duals. It’s tough to find the words.”  Canadian Mikael Kingsbury celebrates his gold medal victory Sunday with his coaches. It was the second gold medal of his career. Credit: David Jackson/Park Record The post Charlie Mickel and Nick Page fall to medalists in first Olympic dual moguls appeared first on Park Record. ...read more read less