The US yesterday won gold in the Olympics freestyle skiing mixed team final, retaining their 2022 title, while Switzerland won silver and favorites China claimed bronze.
The US stormed to victory after failing to reach the podium in this week’s women’s and men’s finals, where China took golds through husband-and-wife couple Wang Xindi and Xu Mengtao.
The winning US team included Kaila Kuhn, gold medalist at last year’s world championships in women’s and mixed team aerials, who finished fifth in Wednesday’s Olympic women’s final.
Photo: AP
Her teammates were Christopher Lillis and Connor Curran, who were eighth and 12th respectively in the men’s final on Friday.
The US scored 325.35 out of a possible total of 450. The Swiss team, including men’s silver medalist Noe Roth, got 296.91 points, while China posted 279.68.
The contest in the alpine resort of Livigno took place in overcast and snowy conditions affecting visibility in an added challenge for athletes.
The Chinese medal bid was spoiled by mistakes from Wang and Li Tianma, the bronze medalist in the men’s, who both crashed on landing after high-difficulty jumps.
Aerials is a gravity-defying discipline that has been part of the Winter Games since 1994 for men’s and women’s events and from 2022 for mixed teams.
Athletes jump off a near vertical ramp, launching themselves in the air and performing complex aerobatics, reaching speeds of up to more than 65kph.
They are judged on height, distance, style, degree of difficulty and landing, with a maximum score of 150 for each jump.
In mixed teams, male and female athletes compete together, with each country fielding three contestants. Their individual scores are added up for an overall total.
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