Elizabeth Lemley won the Olympic gold medal in women's freestyle moguls on Wednesday, as the Team USA skier delivered one of the most talked-about performances of the Milano-Cortina 2026 Winter Games.
The 20-year-old Colorado native won on her Olympic debut, posting a score of 82.30 in the second final to put herself in gold medal contention. Lemley's US teammate Jaelin Kauf followed with an 80.77 to claim silver — her second consecutive Olympic silver after finishing second at the 2022 Beijing Games.
France's Perrine Laffont, the 2018 Olympic champion, took bronze with a 78.00.
Lemley entered the second final in fourth place after scoring 79.02 in the first. She subsequently boosted both her turn score and speed throughout the course, completing the second run in 25.81 seconds to jump to the top of the standings.
With just defending champion Jakara Anthony of Australia standing between Team USA and a 1-2 finish, Anthony caught an edge after her first jump and finished eighth, sealing the result.
The victory comes during Lemley's senior Olympic debut. She previously won the 2022 junior world championship and claimed two gold medals at the 2024 Youth Olympic Games before making this year's Olympic team.
Kauf, 29, is competing in her third Olympics. Her family was there watching for the first time, as COVID restrictions kept them home when she won silver in Beijing.
Emily Lemley adds to the Team USA Olympic medal count
Wednesday's double podium pushed Team USA's total medal count to 10.
The freestyle moguls win also moved the US to third in the overall standings.
