Lemley leads USA one-two in Olympic Women’s Moguls

Months after suffering an ACL injury, Elizabeth Lemley (USA) climbed onto the top step at the Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026 after winning Women’s Moguls gold.

The 20-year-old led a USA one-two, with compatriot Jaelin Kauf (USA) taking silver at Livigno Aerials & Moguls Park on Wednesday. Perrine Laffont (FRA) claimed bronze after defending champion Jakara Anthony (AUS), the last to drop, lost control after her first jump.

Olympic debutante Lemley landed a pair of cork 7s before crossing the finish line in 25.81 seconds to earn 82.30 points in the super final.

Only Kauf (USA) was faster through the course in the super final than Lemley, clocking 25.11 seconds after hitting a cork 7 and a backflip mute grab on bottom air, earning 80.77 points.

It was the third run of the day for last season’s Moguls triple crown winner, who finished second in Qualification 2 (77.18) behind Australian Charlotte Wilson (78.38) to progress to the finals.

Kauf upped her game in Final 1, qualifying for the super final in second (80.13) as top qualifier Anthony took first spot (83.96) again.

But Anthony, looking to become the first woman to win back-to-back Olympic Moguls gold since the event made its Games debut at Albertville 1992, could not replicate her top-scoring run in the super final.

This season’s Moguls Crystal Globe leader said: “You’ve seen how much the sport has progressed since Beijing; I was the only female there competing cork mute. I would say most of the finalists are competing a cork with a grab. 

"So the sport is just progressing so fast, and it’s really cool to be on the front foot of that. And I’m definitely keeping up with it, if not staying ahead of it.”

The dramatic day included a surprise for PyeongChang 2018 Moguls champion Laffont, who squeezed through to the super final, taking the eighth and final spot with a 76.21 run.

Laffont, without a World Cup appearance this year as she recovered from injury, set the super final benchmark with a 78.00 effort that was matched by Hinako Tomitaka (JPN), the Japanese missing out on a medal by a 0.2-point difference on turns.