[OLYMPICS] USA Strikes Gold and Silver as Australia's Hopes Shattered in Women's Moguls Final - SnowBrains

"The American women have brought it home today, with not just one, but two medals, with a gold and silver for Team USA. 20-year-old Elizabeth Lemley skied to Olympic gold with a cork-7 cross and a cork-7 with grab that scored 832.30 points, while her teammate Jaelin Kauf claimed silver closely behind with 80.77 points. Rounding out the podium was France's Perrine Laffon with 78.00 points."

"And in the second finals, Elizabeth Lemley unleashed her best run, showing the world what she had in her repertoire, claiming the gold medal with a strong run with two very difficult jumps that scored well, putting her ahead of her more experienced teammate Jaelin Kauf. Kauf delivered technically better turns, but her jumps were less technically difficult, putting her slightly behind her teammate. 2018 Olympic Champion Perrine Laffon claimed bronze with a cork-7 on the top air and a back-grab on the bottom."

"Australia's Jakara Anthony, who had led the qualification round 1, also led the first finals with a score of 83.96, so expectations on the defending Olympic Champion were high. But in moguls, it is not the "best of"-each round counts separately, so there was no run to lean back on, making moguls such a high-pressure and therefore also sometimes heartbreaking discipline."

Charlotte Wilson topped qualification round 2 while Jaelin Kauf finished second and Jakara Anthony led qualification round 1. The first final featured 20 skiers and advanced eight to the second final: Jakara Anthony, Jaelin Kauf, Hinako Tomitaka, Elizabeth Lemley, Charlotte Wilson, Maia Schwinghammer, Avital Carroll, and Perrine Laffon. In the second final, 20-year-old Elizabeth Lemley executed two difficult cork-7 jumps and scored 832.30 points to capture the gold medal. Jaelin Kauf earned silver with technically stronger turns but less-difficult jumps, scoring 80.77 points. Perrine Laffon secured bronze with a cork-7 top air and a back-grab bottom. Jakara Anthony exited the course in the second final and received deductions that placed her last among the final eight.

Read at SnowBrains