Team Canada will look to score another 1-2 finish when their top two bets compete in the freestyle skiing men's mogul event of the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics on Monday, 1 p.m. EST, at the Rosa Khutor Extreme Park.
Canadian skiing stars Alex Bilodeau and Mikael Kingsbury will look to duplicate the feat of their compatriots Justine and Chloe Dufour-Lapointe, who ended up with the gold and silver medal in the women's mogul, respectively.
But while the Dufour-Lapointe sisters had to take a down a heavily-favored Sarah Kearney in the finals, Bilodeau and Kingsbury are expected to have a walk in the park barring any monumental collapse in the finale.
"If both athletes ski at the level that they have over the past seasons, the rest of the field will be left to battle for bronze. Kingsbury and Bilodeau have split the six moguls World Cup events held this winter, with three victories apiece. In four of those six events the two athletes have finished within a single point of each other," FIS-Ski noted.
Bilodeau, who is looking to win back-to-back gold medals after ruling the event in Vancouver in 2010, topped the qualification round with 24.70 points, followed by Kingsbury, who scored 23.81 in the qualifying round.
Bilodeau lived up to the billing as he was named as the favorite to win the gold again this year as he performed an almost-clean routine, displaying his form that helped rule the last three world cup events in Deer Valley, Lake Placid, and Val St. Come.
Meanwhile, Patrick Deneen will look to make noise for Team USA as he tries to spoil the Canadians hope of ending up first and second in the event.
Deneen, who finished third in the world cup event in Calgary and second to Bilodeau in Lake Placid, barely sneaked into the finals. The American skiing star blew up his campaign in the first run when he hit a flag during his second jump, settling for a measly 10.36 score.
The 26-year-old American regrouped and regained his old form in the second run wherein he scored 22.38 to advance to the finals, joining his compatriot Bradley Wilson, who qualified via his 21.68-point performance in the first run, in the finals.
The men's moguls finals can be viewed through a live stream available at NBC Olympics Live Extra, while the official start list and running scores later are available on the official website of the 2014 Sochi Olympics.
