America's freestyling 'Lizard'
leads a gold-silver medal grab in women's ski moguls
[February 12, 2026]
By JOSEPH WILSON
LIVIGNO, Italy (AP) — When the powder settled on the Olympic moguls
course, Elizabeth Lemley was basking, true to her nickname, in the
glow of a gold medal.
The 20-year-old American freestyle skier, called “Lizard” by her
teammates, had slid and leapt over the slope's icy bumps to land an
unbeatable run, leading a red, white and blue 1-2 medal grab at the
Milan Cortina Games on Wednesday.
Lemley topped the eight-skier final with a score of 82.30 points,
right in front of fellow countrywoman Jaelin Kauf, who successfully
defended her silver medal from Beijing 2022 with a score of 80.77.
Perrine Laffont of France, the 2018 champion, took bronze.
After her gold-medal run, Lemley had to wait it out at the bottom of
the slope as defending champion Jakara Anthony of Australia launched
herself on the final’s last run. But Lemley knew she was champion
when halfway through her run Anthony wobbled off course, ruining her
chances at taking another gold.
Normally cool and collected, Lemley said that emotion flowed when
she saw Anthony commit the mistake that clinched her the title.
“When she pulled out I just had a huge gasp,” the Vail, Colorado,
native said. “I started tearing up in my eyes. I was like, I can’t
believe this. I just became Olympic champion."
A friend then hoisted her on his shoulders to celebrate amid the
dozens of family members and loved ones of the American skiers
gathered at the foot of the slope.
Already in her young career, Lemley has had to show why, after she
took up her nickname from a suggestion by her third-grade teacher,
she “feels like I am mighty lizard.”
Two years ago, Lemley was winning two golds at the Youth Winter
Games. Then came an ACL tear that any athlete knows can derail a
career.
“I spent a long time just thinking about mogul skiing, thinking
about coming back and so much work was put into my body for me to be
healthy,” she said about her time recovering. “I’m super proud of
myself, and I am super grateful for everybody who has helped me
along the way.”
Now she has helped position the U.S. as the team to beat in four
year's time.
An American woman had last won gold in moguls in 2010, when Hannah
Kearney did so in Vancouver. Lemley’s gold was the third in women’s
US moguls history, but the team had never pulled off a sweep of the
top two spots on the podium.
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United States' Elizabeth Lemley holds her gold medal while
celebrating after winning the women's freestyle skiing moguls finals
at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Livigno, Italy, Wednesday, Feb. 11,
2026. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)
“It’s been a long time coming for this team to
stand on top of the podium at the Olympic Games, since Hannah
Kearney retired,” the 29-year-old Kauf said. “So it’s really cool to
finally get that and to have one and two.”
The U.S. had four skiers in the top 10 in Livigno; Olivia Giaccio
was ninth and Tess Johnson was 10th.
U.S. moguls coach Bryon Wilson, the 2010 bronze medalist in men's
moguls, said that this collection of talent is the best the
American’s women team has ever had.
“Each woman on this team is capable of winning on any given day, and
they have won in the past, and I think that just builds excellence,”
Wilson told The Associated Press.
“Each of them has their talents and their strengths. Jalen is
incredibly fast. Lizard is an amazing jumper and just overall
incredible talent. Olivia is also an incredible jumper, and Tess has
the whole package.”
The four will now go for more medals in dual moguls.
The slimmest tiebreaker for bronze
Moguls runs are scored based on a skier’s turns through the
back-pounding, knee-crunching mounds of packed snow, their execution
of two jumps off ramps and their time spent finishing the course.
The turns decided that Laffont, and not Hinako Tomitaka of Japan,
was on the podium after the both finished with 78.00 points.
It went to a tiebreaker based solely on points earned from the
turns. And there Laffont edged Tomitaka by a mere 0.2 points:
Laffont’s turn score was 46.2, Tomitaka’s was 46.0.
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