By JOSEPH WILSON
LIVIGNO, Italy — 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.
“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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