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LIVIGNO, Italy — Elizabeth Lemley was certainly a medal contender entering the 2026 Milano Cortina Winter Olympics.
But gold? You had to see it to believe it.
So “The Star Spangled Banner” played for the first time at the snow sports cluster in Livigno and Lemley took the top spot on the podium with teammate Jaelin Kauf, who won silver in the event for the second straight year, by her side.
Lemley’s blistering and technical final run resulted in a 82.30 and Kauf finished at 80.77. Australia’s Jakara Anthony, the defending Olympic champion, made a bad turn in the middle of the first run to clinch the top two podium spots for the USA. France’s Perrine Laffont took the bronze medal home with a 78.00.
As Kauf and Lemley made their way to the friends and family section, there were more than enough tears of joy and hugs and cries of “Oh my god!” Kauf’s family held up homemade cutouts of the letter “J” and Lemley’s friends from Colorado hoisted her up on their shoulders.
Lemley, 20, is the youngest member of the U.S. moguls team at the 2026 Winter Olympics and a first-time Olympian, but put up a veteran performance. She is a two-time gold medalist at the Youth Olympic Games in duals moguls and team duals moguls.
Four years ago, Kauf also won the silver medal at the 2022 Beijing Olympics in women’s moguls. The official Team USA bio for Kauf states she is the fastest woman in moguls skiing, and she has maintained that the skiing portion of her event – rather than the aerial-trick component – is her strength.
Kauf reached 14 consecutive podiums (eight victories) during the 2025 season, which ended with a dual moguls world title. At 29 years old, Kauf talked last year about being one of her event’s older competitors.
“That doesn’t define what I can do or accomplish in this sport. I truly think age is just a number. My mom showed me that my whole life,” she said. “You can do whatever you want to do.”
Both of Kauf’s parents were on the Pro Moguls Tour when she was a child, but it was her mother Patti who had the most significant effect on her. In a childhood during which most of her ski and soccer teammates were boys, Patti was her daughter’s biggest role model. Jaelin has distinct memories of watching Patti – who also raced while pregnant with her daughter – compete at the X Games and try to qualify for Olympics at age 40.
Moguls has become a different sport than what her parents experienced over the past two decades. Her parents nonetheless understand the tribulations of being an Olympic athlete.
“They understand competing at an elite level and I don’t know if I bounce anything like technically or anything like that off of them, but definitely, they’re always there as a shoulder to cry on, to celebrate with, whatever it is,” Kauf told USA TODAY Sports. “And I know that they understand my emotions and feelings and the heartbreak, the upsets and the triumphs of the sport too.”
For the Kaufs on Wednesday, there was no heartbreak, no upsets. Just celebration and triumph.
