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Deer Valley • Moguls skier Hannah Kearney kept alive her stunning World Cup winning streak on the final night of the Visa Freestyle International at Deer Valley on Saturday.
Canada's Mikael Kingsbury was not so lucky.
While Kearney — the reigning Olympic champion — won her record 14th straight race by beating Justine Dufour-LaPointe of Canada in the head-to-head women's final in dual moguls, Kingsbury watched his record-tying six-race streak come to an end when Russia's Sergey Volkov beat him in the men's final.
"He was the best guy today," Kingsbury said.
Volkov won the first World Cup race of his career by beating Kingsbury down the hill decisively, while Kearney won despite crossing the line 0.06 seconds behind Dufour-LaPointe but scoring higher with cleaner turns and better form.
For all her success, Kearney had never won a dual moguls race at Deer Valley.
"It feels good," she said. "It has been my goal, and there's really nothing like it. You are literally on top of the world. It's a fantastic feeling."
Fellow American Heather McPhie won the third-place race against Kazakhstan's Yulia Galysheva to take bronze, after taking silver behind Kearney in the individual moguls race on Thursday.
Five women finished in the top eight for the U.S.
"The depth is here, the leadership is here," U.S. freestyle program director Todd Schirman said. "Kearney is on fire, and Heather is doing a great job. Really proud of them."
In dual moguls, skiers race down the course side by side in pairs, with the winner based partially on time but also on scores awarded for the quality of their turns and jumps.
Winners advance, and losers are eliminated or relegated to consolation rounds.
Kingsbury had beaten reigning Olympic gold medalist and countryman Alexandre Bilodeau in the quarterfinals, but said he had a hard time adjusting to being assigned to the side of the course with which he was least familiar for the final.
Volkov beat Americans Patrick Deneen and Jeremy Cota in the quarters and semis, enabling him to improve on his first career World Cup medal — a bronze — in the season-opener at Mt. Gabriel in Canada.
Kearney had to knock off McPhie in the semis to reach the final against the Canadian, who at 17 years old is one of the most promising young skiers on the World Cup circuit.
"She's been pushing me all year," Kearney said. "We've been so tight in time, so I'm going to need to step it up, because I know she's gunning for me. But I'm pleased that I pushed myself, but I still stayed clean. And I think that's what won it for me tonight."
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Visa Freestyle International
Men's dual moguls
Gold • Sergey Volkov, Russia
Silver • Mikhail Kingsbury, Canada
Bronze • Andrey Volkov, Russia
Women's dual moguls
Gold • Hannah Kearney, USA
Silver • Justine Dufour-LaPointe, Canada
Bronze • Heather McPhie, USA