Australian takes gold, 2 US women medal in dual moguls

LIVIGNO, Italy -- Australia's Jakara Anthony won the gold medal in the women's freestyle skiing dual moguls at the Winter Olympics on Saturday, redeeming herself after a disappointing loss three days earlier in the single-format moguls.

Anthony, 27, became the first Australian to earn two Winter Olympics gold medals when she overtook American Jaelin Kauf under heavy snow in the northern Italian town of Livigno. Kauf earned silver, and bronze went to fellow American Elizabeth Lemley.

"This one is really different to the last one because I picked this up after the heartbreak of the other day," Anthony said of her new medal, which joins the one she earned in the single moguls in Beijing in 2022.

Dual moguls is a new sport at the Olympics, pitting skiers together in a head-to-head elimination format in which two competitors race side-by-side through parallel bump fields. Speed counts, but so do turns and aerial maneuvers.

Anthony crossed the finish line a fraction of a second before Kauf but had to wait for the judges' final assessment. She smiled and pumped her arms in the air when she saw she had earned a score of 20, compared to Kauf's 15. A throng of Australian supporters cheered and waved yellow inflated kangaroos on the side of the mountain.

At the medal ceremony, Anthony broke into a wide smile as she celebrated her historic second Olympic gold.

Anthony had been the favorite to win the singles but wobbled out of line in her second run to finish eighth. In the single moguls, riders tackle the course solo and the highest score wins.

Heavy snow fell throughout the women's dual moguls finals, hindering visibility for the skiers.

Kauf's second-place run gave the 29-year-old her third Olympic silver medal. She finished second in the singles at the Milan Cortina Games and at Beijing in 2022.

"I was really going for gold, but I guess 'Silver Jae' has a ring to it, so I'm living up to the name," Kauf said.

The 20-year-old Lemley, the surprise gold medalist in the singles, made it to the podium in the dual moguls despite a crash in the semifinals. She hurt her elbow but was determined to keep going, she said.

"I was able to just push the pain out of my head and ski as if it was any other run," she said.

Singles bronze medalist Perrine Laffont of France finished fourth in the dual event.

--Reuters, Special to Field Level Media