- Kaila Kuhn won Olympic gold in mixed team aerials at Milano Cortina 2026 and swept both aerials world titles in 2025. The Park City-based skier, who lists the University of Utah as her school, heads to the Deer Valley World Cup in January.
- Kaila Kuhn connect back to Utah Homegrown and the wider olympic sports picture.
- The story is backed by 12 sources and a visible last-verified date.
October 31, 2026
October 31, 2026
4 min / 924 words
12 official links
Kaila Kuhn won Olympic gold in mixed team aerials at Milano Cortina 2026 on Feb. 21, 2026, jumping with Chris Lillis and Connor Curran. The U.S. trio scored 325.35, well clear of Switzerland's 296.91, and U.S. Ski & Snowboard said it was the second straight American title in the event.
"We did some of the best jumps we've ever done and put it down when it counted," Kuhn told U.S. Ski & Snowboard.
Three days earlier she had finished fifth in the women's individual event at Livigno, the best American result. It capped an 11-month run that took her from a surprise world champion to an Olympic champion.
From gymnastics to the air
Kuhn is originally from Boyne City, Michigan. Her U.S. Ski & Snowboard bio says she was a competitive gymnast until 12, when an invitation to a recruitment camp moved her into aerials. She came through the Park City Ski & Snowboard Elite Aerial Development Program and made the U.S. team in 2020.
Utah has been her base since. TownLift reported in January 2026 that she lives in Park City and is a student at the University of Utah, and U.S. Ski & Snowboard's 2026-27 roster lists the University of Utah as her college. The University of Utah's own Olympic coverage described the U.S. women's aerials team as made up of U students and alumni.
Her U.S. Ski & Snowboard page prints her own motto: "You are the greatest project you will ever work on."
She started young at the highest level. At 15 she competed at the 2019 World Championships at Deer Valley and finished 13th, by FIS records. Her first World Cup podiums came in 2021, third at Yaroslavl, Russia, on Jan. 17 and third at Deer Valley on Feb. 6, by FIS records. A year later she placed eighth at the Beijing 2022 Olympics, and won team gold and individual silver at the 2022 Junior World Championships. FIS standings show her fourth in the aerials World Cup in 2023 and fifth in 2024.
Two world titles in four days
The breakthrough came at the 2025 World Championships in St. Moritz. On March 27, 2025, Kuhn, Lillis and Quinn Dehlinger won mixed team gold with 344.63. Her jump was a back lay-full-full, a triple, worth 100.29, and FIS reported it was the first time she had landed it.
"I was so happy to put that triple to my feet. That was the first one that I've landed," she told FIS.
Three days later she threw it again in the individual superfinal and scored 105.13, ahead of China's Xu Mengtao (99.16) and Australia's Danielle Scott (96.93). FIS said she was the first aerials athlete to win two gold medals at a single world championships, and the only woman to score over 100 in the superfinal. U.S. Ski & Snowboard called them the best U.S. individual results since 2017.
"This is the biggest surprise; I couldn't be happier," Kuhn said.
The first World Cup win
Her first World Cup victory followed in the Olympic season. The aerials World Cup scheduled for Deer Valley moved to Lake Placid, which TownLift attributed to a lack of snow, and on Jan. 12, 2026, Kuhn qualified first and won it, taking the top score in the final round with a full-full-full.
"I've done this jump 100 times before, and when the crowd is here and the pressure is on, I just rely on that training," she said after the win. "There is no better place where I would want to get my first World Cup win," she added, by U.S. Ski & Snowboard's account. She had been third at the same venue the day before. She finished third in the 2025-26 aerials World Cup standings, with five career World Cup podiums by U.S. Ski & Snowboard's count.
Her record at a glance
- Olympics: eighth in aerials at Beijing 2022; fifth in aerials and gold in mixed team aerials at Milano Cortina 2026
- World Championships: 13th at Deer Valley in 2019; gold in women's aerials and mixed team aerials at St. Moritz in 2025
- World Cup: first win at Lake Placid, Jan. 12, 2026; third overall in 2025-26
- Junior World Championships 2022: team gold, individual silver
- Team status: 2026-27 U.S. Freestyle Ski Team, aerials A team
Deer Valley in January
U.S. Ski & Snowboard named Kuhn to the aerials A team of the 2026-27 U.S. Freestyle Ski Team on Oct. 10, 2026, listing her as from Boyne City, Michigan, with the University of Utah as her college. The FIS calendar opens the aerials World Cup at Lac-Beauport, Canada, on Jan. 9-10, 2027, returns to Lake Placid on Jan. 15-17, and comes to Deer Valley on Jan. 28-30, 2027, where U.S. Ski & Snowboard lists the Freestyle International. The season ends at the 2027 FIS Freestyle World Championships in Montafon, Austria, in March, where she would be the defending individual champion.
For more Utah winter athletes, see the Utah 2034 Olympics hub.
Key facts:
- Athlete: Kaila Kuhn, freestyle aerials, 2026-27 U.S. Freestyle Ski Team (aerials A team)
- Hometown: Boyne City, Michigan; lives in Park City and lists the University of Utah as her college
- Olympic gold: mixed team aerials, Milano Cortina 2026, Feb. 21, 2026, with Chris Lillis and Connor Curran (325.35)
- Olympic individual: fifth in women's aerials, Feb. 18, 2026, the top American
- World titles: women's aerials (105.13) and mixed team aerials, St. Moritz, March 2025
- First World Cup win: Lake Placid, Jan. 12, 2026
- Next in Utah: aerials World Cup at Deer Valley, Jan. 28-30, 2027
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