The FIS Moguls World Cup is set to return to Japan for the first time in six years, hosting events in Nanto-Toyama from February 28 to March 1, 2026. This stop follows the Milano Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games in Livigno, with top athletes like Olympic medalists from the US and Australia competing. Japanese star Ikuma Horishima leads the standings and aims to perform on home snow.
The Nanto-Toyama event marks the first FIS Freestyle Ski World Cup in the location, featuring Moguls on February 28 and Dual Moguls on March 1. Women's qualifications begin at 09:15 local time, followed by men's at 11:00, with finals from 13:30. Dual Moguls preliminaries start at 11:00 the next day, and elimination rounds from 13:30.
On the women's side, the US fields a strong team including Olympic gold medalist Elizabeth Lemley in Moguls and bronze in Dual Moguls, who described herself as a different athlete after her debut Olympics. Jaelin Kauf earned two silvers in Livigno, while Tess Johnson and Olivia Giaccio hold second and third in the Moguls standings. Australia's Jakara Anthony leads the standings by 78 points after her Dual Moguls Olympic gold and could achieve four straight World Cup wins. Anthony has podiumed in 21 of her last 23 Moguls starts.
In men's Moguls, Olympic champion Cooper Woods of Australia and Mikael Kingsbury of Canada will not compete. Ikuma Horishima of Japan, with Olympic bronze in Moguls and silver in Dual, leads the standings. Horishima has 17 World Cup wins and one victory in seven starts on Japanese snow, in Tazawako in 2018. He could enter the all-time top three with another win. Other contenders include US's Nick Page, who placed seventh in Olympic Moguls, and Australia's Matt Graham, fifth in Olympics and nearing the top 10 all-time podiums.
For Dual Moguls, Anthony won Olympic gold ahead of Kauf and Lemley. Canada's Julien Viel won the season's first Dual event and could make history. Live streaming is available on FIS TV, with geo-restrictions in some regions like Germany, Austria, and Switzerland for qualifications.
This event revives Japanese hosting after the last Moguls in Tazawako in 2020, won by Kingsbury and Perrine Laffont of France.
