Canadian fans are questioning why Cooper Woods and Mikael Kingsbury weren’t both awarded gold after they technically tied in the moguls at the Winter Olympics on Thursday night. Woods scored a stunning gold medal for Australia, despite never winning a World Cup event and initially failing to qualify for the final in the top 10.
The 25-year-old topped the second qualification round and gained the No.1 ranking for the final, which meant he got to ski last. The Aussie produced a score of 83.71 – which was identical to what Canadian legend Kingsbury was awarded.
Cooper Woods was awarded the gold over Mikael Kinsbury on a tiebreaker. Image: Getty
But Woods was handed the gold medal on a tie-breaker because he had a higher score on the turns. The judges awarded the Aussie 48.40 for his turns, while Kingsbury only got 47.70.
Kingsbury had the higher score for air – 18.68 compared to 17.74 for Woods – as well as a quicker time (17.33 compared to 17.57). But under Olympic rules, a tie in moguls is broken by whoever got the higher turns score, meaning Woods walked away with a stunning gold medal despite Kingsbury beating him in two out of the three scores.
Kingsbury, one of the all-time greats in the sport, was visibly distraught and threw his skis down when he was relegated to silver. And many are questioning whether it would have been fairer to award both athletes the gold medal.
At the Olympics, ties can sometimes result in two of the same medal being awarded to two athletes – especially if it’s silver of bronze. But some sports have tie-breaker rules for gold, and Woods was the beneficiary on Thursday night.
Cooper Woods celebrates with his gold medal at the Winter Olympics.
(Getty Images)
One person wrote online: “Ridiculous tiebreaker. How do you win 2/3 categories and lose.” Another wrote: “Lousy tie breaker rule. Just give them both gold.”
But another commented: “Heartbreaking way to bow out of his final Games, but it’s the rule, not much he or anyone can do about it.”
Cooper Woods wins Australia’s seventh gold at Winter Olympics
Woods had only ever finished on the podium once throughout his World Cup career, and was sixth in Beijing four years ago. “This season, I’ve struggled with a lot of self-belief – I’ve had such a good year of training but not competing and what a time to get it dialled and sorted,” he said.
Remarkably, Australia finished with three athletes in the top eight. Flag-bearer Matt Graham was fifth, while Olympic debutant Jackson Harvey was eighth.
Woods’ gold is the third all-time for Australia in moguls, after Dale Begg-Smith in Turin 2006 and Jakara Anthony in Beijing in 2022. It’s Australia’s seventh gold medal in Winter Olympic history.