On the final day of competition of the 2025-26 FIS Aerials World Cup season, Kaila Kuhn delivered for the second day in a row, taking home the first World Cup victory of her career at the Stifel Lake Placid Freestyle Cup presented by iHeartRadio. She was third the day prior in the individual aerials competition.

“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 and that’s what I did today,” Kuhn said after the event. “I knew that if I relied on the jumps I did all summer, then I could put it to my feet when it mattered.” 

It was a cold, snowy, blustery day in Lake Placid, New York. Not only was it the final competition of the season before the Olympic Winter Games, but it was the final chance to qualify for Team USA. The season’s overall trophy, the World Cup Crystal Globe, was also on the line. 

In the qualification round, it was Kuhn leading the women for the second day in a row, with teammate Kyra Dossa within the top 12 to land a spot going into the finals. Kuhn, who was back on the individual aerials podium for the first time since 2021 less than 24 hours prior, qualified in first place with a lay-full-full. Going off the triple, athletes were launching themselves nearly 55-60 feet into the air; on the double, they’re going up to 40 feet. Other Americans on the startlist were Tasia Tanner, Karenna Elliott, Winter Vinecki, Amelia Glogowski, Dani Loeb and Cate McEneany – they did not advance to finals. 

For the men, no men advanced to the finals. American athletes on the start list were Derek Krueger, Ashton Salwan, Chris Lillis, Connor Curran, Ian Schoenwald, Kane Scott, Gavin Canzano, Beaudin Napolitano and Beau Magner. 

In the final, there were two jumps on the line for the top 12 women. Only six would advance to the second round of jumping. In the first round, Kuhn performed a lay-full-full, which landed her in fourth. Into the second round, she mixed it up with a full-full-full, securing the win by having the highest-scoring jump of the round. From there, it was all about soaking up the feelings that come from winning her first-ever World Cup competition. Dossa, who was also in the finals, was 12th on the day. 

“It’s pretty indescribable,” said Kuhn, when asked how it felt to win the competition and make Team USA. “There is no better place where I would want to get my first World Cup win, but also ending the season with a win, especially going into the Olympics, is a huge confidence boost, and I will be going into the Olympics this year with this win in the back of my mind.” 

With the result, Kuhn finished the season in third place in the overall World Cup standings. 

The 2025-26 FIS Aerials World Cup has officially come to an end, but this is not the end for the athletes who are going to represent Team USA at the Olympic Winter Games in February. While the official team has not been announced, many of the athletes competing in Lake Placid at the Olympic aerials venue in Livigno, Italy in a few short weeks. 

RESULTS
Women
Men

For the final FIS Aerials World Cup of the 2025-26 season, and the final competition before the Olympic Winter Games, the world’s best traveled to Lake Placid, NY, for two days of competition at the Lake Placid Ski Jumping Complex, for the Stifel Lake Placid Freestyle Cup presented by iHeartRadio. On the first day of jumping, three Americans landed a spot in finals and Kaila Kuhn was back on the individual podium in third, for the first time since 2021. 

It was a clear, sunny day in the Adirondacks, with a slight breeze and cold temperatures, which turned out to be in the athletes' favor… until the finals, when the snow started to fall heavily. Yet, that didn’t stop the field. 

In the qualification round, the women went first. Kuhn, the 2025 World Champion, was the top American qualifier in fifth, throwing a lay-full-full, while Winter Vinecki, who had back-to-back podiums last weekend, threw the same trick and qualified ninth. U.S. athletes Kyra Dossa, Karenna Elliott, Dani Loeb, Tasia Tanner, Catherine McEnaney and Amelia Glogowski also jumped in qualification, but did not advance to finals. 

For the men, Derek Krueger led the way, qualifying 12th, with a full-full-full. Krueger was the only American to qualify. Quinn Dehlinger, who has already pre-qualified for the Olympic Winter Games, did not compete today. He took a fall during training and decided to withdraw to focus on recovery. He is okay. Connor Curran, Chris Lillis, Ashton Salwan, Beaudin Napolitano, Scott Kane, Ian Schoenwald, and Gavin Canzano did not advance to the finals. Canzano at only 15 years old, made his World Cup debut.

Into the finals, Kuhn and Vinecki put it all on the line. Vinecki, who has qualified for Team USA, threw a lay-full-full, landing strong, taking third to move on to the super final round. Kuhn, also throwing a lay-full-full, just missed the landing but her score was enough to make the top six and advance to super finals. In the final round of six, all eyes were on the Americans. Vinecki threw a full-full-full, and slightly overrotated the landing causing her to do a front flip but she walked away unscalved and finished the day fifth. All eyes were on Kuhn. With her last individual podium in 2021, it was time to be back on those steps. Throwing a lay-full-full, Kuhn stomped the landing. Anxiously awaiting her score, and for the final athletes to jump, it was tense. The score came through, the final athletes jumped, and Kuhn was back on the podium in third.

“This couldn't have been a more exciting way to start the weekend,” she said once the results were final. “I came into this competition at the bottom of the Olympic qualifier list, so being able to do this today was so huge for me,” she said, with tears. 

Krueger started off the first jump of finals strong, with a score of 100, throwing the full-double-full-full. That was enough to send him to the top six. From there, it was all about execution. Landing his second jump, Krueger ended the day in fourth, his career-best World Cup result. 

"It's been a long year for me, and a lot went into it. I was slowly progressing throughout the year, and I finally put it down in competition, so I'm pretty excited," said Krueger. "This is a personal best for me, fourth place, so a good result tomorrow could do the job." 

Now, the athletes will rest and reset for the same competition tomorrow, with individual aerials taking place at the Lake Placid Jumping Complex. This is the final day of aerials competition before the Olympic Winter Games next month in Milano Cortina. The overall Crystal Globes will be awarded; Vinecki leads the USA overall World Cup standings, sitting in second going into the final competition of the 2025-26 season. 

RESULTS
Women
Men

For the first time ever, the Stifel U.S. Freestyle Ski Team moguls women took the top four spots on a dual moguls World Cup podium. Jaelin Kauf, the fastest woman on the circuit, picked up where she left off in the 2024-25 season, taking the top spot. Elizabeth Lemley finished second, her first podium since 2024. Tess Johnson rounded out the podium in third place, her second podium of the weekend and Olivia Giaccio finished in fourth place. The last time the women swept a dual moguls podium was at Deer Valley in 2021. 

“I love duals, and I came out just to have fun tonight and ski as hard as I could out here, and I did just that,” said Kauf. “It’s so amazing having four of us in the top four. The run before that, I just wanted to call it there and have the four of us take the win together. We have an incredible team, and I’m stoked for all of us.” 

After a rain and a freeze, the bumps in Val St. Come, Quebec, Canada were fast and hard, leading to difficult conditions throughout the day. Ten Stifel U.S. Ski Team athletes advanced through to the finals round of 16, fortunate enough to avoid U.S.-on-U.S. dualing in the early rounds. The men sent four to the finals and Charlie Mickel led the way into the quarter final where he finished sixth, tying his personal best dual moguls result. Nick Page, Friday’s third-place finisher, landed in 11th followed by Asher Michel in 12th and Dylan Walczyk in 13th. 

Six women made it to the finals, and four made it to the quarter finals, where things started to pick up. One after another, the U.S. women won their duals - including an incredible battle by Lemley to take out reigning Olympic champion Jakara Anthony - until only American women remained in the competition. Lemley and Giaccio went head-to-head in the semifinals, with Lemley advancing to the big final. Kauf and Johnson were in the second heat; Kauf moved on to the big final and Johnson to the small. In the small final, Giaccio took a fall and lost both of her skis, but got up and skied down on her own. Johnson finished third overall. 

In the big final, both women put on a show, but Kauf’s speed remained unmatched, giving her 23 points over 12 for Lemley to take the top spot. Kauf had not finished off the dual moguls podium since December of 2023. Lemley, making her return after injury, is back on the podium in second place for the first time since 2024. 

Kauf ended the evening changing from the blue previous season winner bib to the yellow bib, signifying she is the current overall dual moguls World Cup leader. 

Next week, the team heads to Waterville Valley, New Hampshire for the Intermountain Health Freestyle International, the final World Cup and Olympic qualifier before the 2026 Olympic Winter Games. 

RESULTS
Women
Men

After returning from injury and making her return to triple jumps, Winter Vinecki is back on top of the podium two years later, taking the top spot in Lac-Beauport, Canada. Quinn Dehlinger earned his first podium of the season, finishing in third place. 

“It’s so special, and it’s so exciting having all of these kids here cheering us on,” said Vinecki. “It’s such an amazing feeling being back on top of the podium, especially coming off of an injury last season. I’m just really excited.” 

The U.S. was on a roll from the start of the day, with eight American athletes advancing to the finals. Vinecki took the top spot in qualifying for the women. Karenna Elliott, who is returning to competition after a knee injury, just missed out on finals, finishing 14th. Dani Loeb finished 16th, and Chris Lillis finished 18th. 

Four athletes advanced to the super final round, finishing in the top six in the finals. Derek Krueger just missed the super finals, finishing seventh; Kaila Kuhn finished eighth, Ashton Salwan finished 10th and Ian Schoenwald finished 12th. Vinecki and Dehlinger took the top spots in finals. 

The athletes continued to shine in the super finals. Connor Curran and Tasia Tanner both finished in fourth place, a personal best for Tanner. Quinn Dehlinger threw a double full full full earning 123.53 points to finish on the podium in third place. 

“I was really happy to finally execute the way I wanted to in super finals," said Dehlinger. "In Ruka and in China I got to the super finals and didn’t put down the jumps that I wanted and sadly ended up in fourth and fifth, but today I put down the jump that I wanted to and ended up in third place so happy to get on the podium." 

Vinecki stole the show in Canada, earning her sixth World Cup win. Vinecki threw a full full full for the second time in competition and the first time in an individual event. 

“It feels amazing to be back on top of the podium. This is the second time I’ve competed full full fulls, but this is the first time in an individual competition, so I was able to do it in China in the team event, and I was really excited to put one down for myself, and we’re going to be right back at it tomorrow.

Tomorrow, the aerials athletes compete again in Lac-Beauport at 1:30 pm ET. 

RESULTS
Women
Men