Keaton McCargo attends the moguls press conference ahead of the Olympic Winter Games PyeongChang 2018 on Fe.b 5, 2018 in PyeongChang, South Korea.
Rather than heading home after making her Olympic debut in PyeongChang, U.S. moguls skier Keaton McCargo headed to Tazawako, Japan, where on Saturday she notched her second career world cup podium.
McCargo finished third, behind Perrine Laffont of France and Justine Dufour-LaPointe of Canada, the gold and silver medalists in the event in PyeongChang. McCargo, who is from Telluride, Colorado, was eighth in her Olympic debut.
On Saturday, the 22-year-old led a U.S. effort that saw three women and two men finish among the top 10 in Tazawako.
McCargo qualified first overall with an 81.26 heading into the super final, but she made a slight error on her final run to finish in third, equaling her best finish at a world cup since December 2016 in Ruka, Finland.
Olivia Giaccio, 17, of Redding, Connecticut, just missed the podium in fourth place. U.S. Olympian Tess Johnson, 17, of Vail, Colorado, was eighth. Johnson was 12th in her Olympic debut last month.
On the men’s side, Joel Hedrick, 20, of Winter Park, Colorado, finished sixth as the top American. Troy Murphy, a 2018 U.S. Olympian from Bethel, Maine, finished 10th. Murphy, 25, was 17th in PyeongChang.
Action continues in Tazawako on Sunday with the first dual moguls competition of the season.
Gary R. Blockus is a journalist from Allentown, Pennsylvania who has covered multiple Olympic Games.
