Team USA Breaks The Best-Ever Winter Olympic Performance Following Anti-ICE Advocate Chris Lillis’ Finishing Jump To Retain Mixed Aerials Gold

Chris Lillis had won the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics gold in the mixed aerials with Ashley Caldwell and Justin Schoenefeld.

Team USA Breaks The Best-Ever Winter Olympic Performance Following Anti-ICE Advocate Chris Lillis’ Finishing Jump To Retain Mixed Aerials Gold

From Left to Right: Chris Lillis, Connor Curran, Kaila Kuhn (Image via @TeamUSA on X)

In Short
  • Team USA won gold in mixed aerials freestyle skiing at the Winter Olympics 2026.
  • Chris Lillis, Connor Curran, and Kaila Kuhn delivered three perfect jumps to secure victory.
  • The win brought Team USA's total to eleven gold medals, marking their best-ever Winter Olympic performance.

The United States of America was one of the top contenders heading into the mixed aerials freestyle skiing event as the defending champions. After a thrilling suspension-dripping final, 2022 gold medalist Chris Lillis led a new team of Connor Curran and Kaila Kuhn to a gold-medal finish ahead of Switzerland and the People’s Republic of China.

The US athletes were particularly dominant throughout, with a top spot finish to advance to the super final. The trio continued the dominance in the super final, having the dominance of the last jump because of their higher-seeded finish from qualification. In the super final, Uncle Sam was the only team to land three perfect jumps, as all three teams had one or two athletes making a faulty jump.

Switzerland provided tough competition with exceptionally high jumps from Pirmin Werner and Noe Roth, but as Lillis made the final jump, it just wasn’t enough for the Swiss team. Meanwhile, the strong gold medal favorites, China, had a disappointing day as imperfections snatched away their gold. The United States had a score of 325.35 against Switzerland’s 296.91.

The mixed aerials gold took Team USA’s tally to eleven golds at the Winter Olympics 2026. Yesterday, Alex Ferreira won gold in the men’s halfpipe to match the ten gold medal count in Salt Lake City twenty-four years ago. With 11 golds, the Milano Cortina 2026 has now become Team USA’s best performance in terms of gold medals.

It also wrapped up Lillis’ Olympic season in a sensational finish. It was just two weeks ago when Lillis was at the end of all kinds of online abuse and backlash when he made statements against the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency amid the growing uproar against them following the fatal murders of Renee Good and Alex Pretti, and a series of violent interactions. Lillis said in a press conference ahead of the Winter Olympics opening ceremony.

A lot of times, athletes are hesitant to talk about political views and how we feel about things. I feel heartbroken about what’s happening in the United States.

What unfolded in the Mixed Aerials super final as the U.S. capitalised on China’s mistakes

The People’s Republic of China had a striking team with Xu Mengtao, the women’s individual gold medalist, Wang Xindi, the men’s champion, and Li Tianma, who finished in third place in the men’s event. It was their event to lose.

Connor Curran, Chris Lillis, Kaila Kuhn celebrate after Lillis' jump (Image via @usskiteam on X)
Connor Curran, Chris Lillis, Kaila Kuhn celebrate after Lillis’ jump (Image via @usskiteam on X)

The Chinese began strong with Mengtao landing a back full–full–full, the same high-difficulty jump that secured her individual title earlier in the week. The United States stayed within reach as Kaila Kuhn delivered a triple-twisting jump, though she trailed Xu by just over two points.

Momentum shifted when China’s Wang Xindi crashed on a difficult attempt, allowing Connor Curran to execute a clean full–double full–full and give the U.S. a valuable lead heading into the final round. In their last attempt to recover, Tianma had increased his difficulty to five twists. However, Tianma had a heavy fall and lost both of their skis on landing, effectively ending their gold medal hopes as they finished just behind Switzerland.

The title was then sealed by Chris Lillis, who nailed a double full–full–full to secure victory for the United States.

After their win, Johnny Kroetz, Lillis’ former coach, acknowledged that China should have walked away with the win with the team they had.

They (China) should have walked away with this. Like I said yesterday (Friday), it’s just a tale of a few inches.

Switzerland were the dark horse, emerging as the surprise challenger. After an early crash by Lina Kozomara, the team surged back through standout final jumps. Pirmin Werner scored 123 with a double full–full–double full, before Noé Roth delivered a five-twist Hurricane for 129.54.

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