World Cup action moves on to Idre Fjäll

Dec 11, 2020·Freestyle

FIS Freestyle Ski Dual Moguls World Cup competition in Idre Fjall (SWE). Photo: Mateusz Kielpinski (FIS)

After an exciting start into 2020/21 freestyle season last week in Ruka, the FIS FIS Freestyle World Cup tour now moves on to Idre Fjäll (SWE) for a pair of moguls and dual moguls competitions scheduled to go down this Saturday and Sunday, December 12-13.

While last season’s finals in Idre were called off due the Covid-19 restrictions, everything looks in place this year as the Swedish resort is set to welcome back the world’s best skiers for the second and third moguls World Cup competitions of the season. Sunday’s competition will also be the season’s first dual event.

For the first time since 2013, the moguls World Cup is returning to Sweden, restarting a long tradition of hosting freestyle events that dates back to 1984. In 2012/21, in addition to the long-established stop of the Audi FIS Ski Cross World Cup, Idre Fjäll adds another big event to its calendar - the FIS Freestyle Ski Moguls & Dual Moguls World Cup competitions.

The venue in Idre has been up and running since the middle of October and again this year it served as a training ground for many national teams getting ready for the upcoming campaign. Now the venue is ready for another big test this weekend with plenty of World Cup points up for grabs and some top-tier athletes looking to wrap up the first portion of the season on a high.

Laffont and Reikherd lead the way in qualifications

In the women’s competition the one to watch is reigning World Cup champion Perrine Laffont (FRA), who is coming off a hot start to the new season with a first-place finish in Ruka. The 22-year-old also looked very sharp in Friday’s qualifying session in Idre, setting both the fastest time and the highest jump scores.

Second place in the qualifications went to Jakara Anthony (AUS), with Kisara Sumiyoshi (JPN) rounding out the top-3 and leading a big group of five Japanese riders into Saturday’s finals.

Apart from afore-mentioned athletes, also to watch out for are Jaelin Kauf (USA) and Justine Dufour-Lapointe (CAN), the usual contenders for a spot on a podium in basically every event they enter. Last week in Ruka Kauf finished the competition in second place, while Dufour-Lapointe placed just outside of the podium in fourth.

Finally let’s not forget about a new wave of up-and-comers including Anastasiia Smirnova (RUS), Anri Kawamura (JPN) or Kai Owens (USA), just to name a few of those young riders who made it into Saturday’s finals and will be looking for two solid runs to upset the favourites.

Over on the men’s side of the event keep an eye on the veteran Dmitriy Reikherd (KAZ). Entering his first event of the season and dropping in early in the competition, Reikherd stormed through qualifications for what turned out to be the best run of the day. With a combined scored of 82.21 points, Reikherd outscored second Matt Graham (AUS) and third Ikuma Horishima (JPN).

Besides Horishima, Reikherd and Graham, also take into account Benjamin Cavet (FRA) when putting down your bets this weekend. Cavet couldn’t quite make his run at the season’s opening event in Ruka, but it’s fair to expect it will not happen twice in a row. Cavet recorded four top-3 finishes in 2019/20 and despite a little slow start into the new World Cup campaign it’s hard not to see him among top contenders for the win in Sweden.

Going further down the start list it’s also worth to notice the likes of Jimi Salonen (FIN), Marco Tade (SUI), Nick Page (USA) or Ludvig Fjallstrom (SWE), who put in strong performances in Ruka and will be certainly looking for another positive result in Idre.

The single moguls competition will take place on Saturday at 10:30 local time. Dual moguls preliminary rounds will follow up later in the afternoon at 14:15, and the dual moguls finals will take place on Sunday at 11:00.

COMPETITION PROGRAMME (local time)

Friday

10:25 - men’s qualifications

13:10 - women’s qualifications

Saturday

10:30 - single moguls FINALS

14:15 - dual moguls preliminary rounds

Sunday

11:00 - dual moguls FINALS

WATCH LIVE

Saturday - Moguls

Eurosport 2 & Eurosport player (Europe), TV2 SPXRT (Denmark), YLE 2 (Finland), Arena 4 (Hungary), JSport 1 (Japan), Sport 1 (Lithuania), SVT (Sweden), streaming on NBC Olympic Channel (USA)

Sunday - Dual Moguls

Eurosport player (Europe), Arena 4 (Hungary), JSport 1 (Japan), Sport 1 (Lithuania), SVT (Sweden), streaming on NBC Olympic Channel (USA)

Live streaming will also be available on our Youtube channel - MOGULS & DUAL MOGULS. Please note that due to broadcasting rights restrictions, live streaming may not be available in your region. Full list of countries with the live streaming available can be found HERE.

QUICK LINKS