Winter Olympics Day 8: Americans win silver and bronze in women’s dual moguls

It’s heartbreak for Team USA’s Jaelin Kauf who finishes second in the big final against Australian Jakara Anthony.

Kauf picked up the silver in the single moguls and will have to settle for another runner-up position.

Elizabeth Lemley managed to pick up her second medal of the Winter Olympics with a bronze in the women’s dual moguls.

What a sensational result for an injured Lemley when it wasn’t assured she would even start the run. The big air scores have taken her to a one-point win over France’s Perrine Laffont.

Incredible.

Team USA has a guaranteed medal in the women’s dual moguls.

It wasn’t pretty, but somehow, Jaelin Kauf moved into the big final with a win against Perrine Laffont.

Kauf crashed heavily midway through the run but managed to dust herself off and finish the race.

However, the French skier went outside of the control gate, which is an automatic Did Not Finish, meaning Kauf was guaranteed a spot in the big final and at least a silver medal.

It was then up to individual moguls gold medalist Elizabeth Lemley to try and make it an all-American final.

But Lemley followed in the footsteps of her US teammate and crashed towards the end of her run.

This time there were no favors from the opponent and Australian Jakara Anthony was able to ease her way into the final.

It’s Kauf vs Anthony for the gold.

USA's Elizabeth Lemley and Jaelin Kauf after winning the Women’s Freestyle Ski Moguls Final 2 on day five of the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic games at Livigno Air Park in Livigno, Italy on Wednesday.

It was a mixed bag for Team USA in the women’s dual moguls quarterfinals.

Gold medal hopeful Jaelin Kauf defeated Kazakh skier Anastassiya Gorodko first up. Gorodko fell early on the run which guaranteed Kauf a spot in the semifinals.

It was then Team USA’s Tess Johnson up next who faced the tough challenge of Perrine Laffont. The French skier squeaked past Johnson with an 18-17 victory, setting up a blockbuster semifinal against Kauf.

The closely fought quarterfinals didn’t end there with Team USA’s Olivia Giaccio taking on Australian Jakara Anthony. Anthony advanced with a 20-15 win, ending the dreams of another American at the quarterfinal stage.

But as US hopes would’ve been fading slightly, Elizabeth Lemley stepped up and delivered when it mattered, advancing to the semifinals where she’ll face Anthony.

Will there be an all-American final between Kauf and Lemley who finished 1-2 in the individual women’s moguls?

While alpine skiers race downhill, the jumpers turn their skis into wings, remaining airborne for distances of more than 100 meters, or nearly 330 feet – almost as long as an NFL football field. The men’s large hill record is more than 160 yards (substantially further than any football field), set when Austrian Gregor Schlierenzauer jumped 146.5 meters in Vancouver.

The focus of snowboarding halfpipe and big-air competitions is often the tricks and landings. But the amplitude of the jumps is equally impressive.

The women’s dual moguls competition is firmly underway this morning and the Team USA hopefuls are flying.

There has been some American disappointment in the last couple of days in Italy, but these skiers are doing their utmost to secure some medals early on Day 8.

Jaelin Kauf set the pace and was the first to advance, shortly followed by Tess Johnson and Olivia Giaccio, before individual gold medalist Elizabeth Lemley completed the sweep.

The chance for a Team USA 1, 2, 3, 4 is still on with all four of the skiers managing to avoid each other in the quarterfinals.

They couldn’t, could they?

Fans catching a glimpse of the giant slalom spectacle in Bormio.

If you can’t get a spectator seat in the stands, there’s always the street corner!

As we enter Bormio, hundreds of people are wriggling around the side streets behind the venue complex trying to find the best spot to catch a snippet of the action as the skiers come down the hill.

There’s a definite chill up here with spectators donning woolly hats, scarves and multiple layers. It’s that kind of day.

The whiff of coffee and hot chocolate permeates the air… Not to mention a little bit of glühwein as well!

Apparently, toy versions of the ambassador stoats Tina and Milo are so highly sought after that official stores are running out of stock. That’s going to be disappointing to some enthusiasts, including a CNN correspondent bereft at the “disaster” and a 19-month-old son of another CNN colleague.

Milan Cortina Olympic organizers, who apparently did not account for the demand for mascot merch, say they are talking to their suppliers.

Check out what’s creating all the hype:

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Meet Tina and Milo: the mascots of the Winter Olympics

What are stoats and how did they become the mascots for the 2026 Winter Olympics? CNN’s Antonia Mortensen introduces Tina, Milo and the six snowdrops named "The Flo."

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Meet Tina and Milo: the mascots of the Winter Olympics

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Jaelin Kauf celebrates winning silver in the women's moguls.

While the sport of freestyle skiing is not new to the Winter Olympics, the dual moguls event will be making its official debut.

The discipline sees two athletes race down a bumpy slope complete with jumps, with the person with the highest score going through to the next round of the bracket.

Scores are based on a combination of turns, speed and air, with all aspects evaluated by seven judges.

Jaelin Kauf is one of the fastest women in dual moguls and will be eyeing a medal for Team USA once the event gets underway.

“I’m super excited for dual moguls. I love the event myself, obviously, but I also think it’s such a great spectator sport. It’s going to be super exciting,” she told CNN Sports.

“Anything can happen. That’s the nature of duals. So I think it is going to really, really amazing to see on that Olympic stage.”

Kauf competed in the previous two Winter Games, winning silver in the individual women’s moguls back in 2022 and repeating the feat this year at Milan Cortina.

It’s a career somewhat inspired by her parents and brother who all have a background in mogul skiing.

“When I was younger, I didn’t think I would be a mogul skier,” she added. “My brother loved it, but I wasn’t super sold on it. I just liked to do what he did and follow him around, but obviously I ended up also loving the sport that they loved as well.

“It’s pretty special to share that for sure.”

Gold medalists Laurence Fournier Beaudry and partner Guillaume Cizeron of Team France pose for a photo after the medal ceremony for Ice Dance on day five of the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic games at Milano Ice Skating Arena in Milan, Italy on Wednesday.

When French figure skaters won gold over Olympic favorites Madison Chock and Evan Bates, some were skeptical of the scoring. But this isn’t Laurence Fournier Beaudry and Guillaume Cizeron’s first scandal — the two have been shrouded in controversy since they arrived in Milan.

Fournier Beaudry’s previous skating partner and boyfriend of 12 years, Nikolaj Sørensen, was banned by the Canadian skating governing body in 2024 for alleged “sexual maltreatment,” after he was accused of sexually assaulting an American figure skater and coach years prior.

Sørensen denied the accusations and his suspension was overturned the next year on jurisdictional grounds, but the case is still pending.

Fournier Beaudry needed a new partner. So the figure skater, who had previously competed for Denmark and Canda, attained French citizenship to compete with Cizeron for France.

Fournier Beaudry and Cizeron have maintained their support of Sørensen. In the Netflix documentary “Glitter & Gold,” Fournier Beaudry said Sørensen’s ban was difficult for her “because it was not only about skating, it was about my integrity, it was about his integrity. I know my boyfriend 100%. I know him. And we (stood) strong together.”

Sørensen’s accuser told USA Today last week that the pair’s defense of the skater carries weight, “and using their voices to publicly undermine a survivor’s truth further enforces the culture of silence in figure skating.”

Cizeron, who came out of retirement to compete with Fournier Beaudry, brings his own controversy. Gabriella Papadakis, who won gold with Cizeron in Beijing’s 2022 Olympics, wrote in her memoir that Cizeron was controlling and abusive toward her in their partnership.

Cizeron dismissed the claims as part of a “smear campaign,” and NBC fired Papadakis as a skating analyst after her book was published because of concerns regarding her neutrality, the Associated Press reports.

The French duo did not seem preoccupied on Wednesday night, wearing their gold medals with a French flag draped over their shoulders.

CNN’s Ben Morse contributed to this report.

Ukraine's Vladyslav Heraskevych starts for a men's skeleton training session in Cortina d'Ampezzo on Monday. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)

The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) has dismissed Ukrainian skeleton slider Vladyslav Heraskevych’s appeal to be reinstated into the Olympic Games after he was disqualified from competition for breaking International Olympic Committee (IOC) rules over athlete expression.

Why was he disqualified: The IOC guidelines banned Heraskevych’s helmet featuring images of athletes killed during the war in Ukraine. He wore it anyway.

Read more about why he was DQ’d here.

(From left) Kim Meylemans and her wife Nicole Silveira in Cortina d'Ampezzo on Tuesday.

It’s good to marry someone who really gets you. For instance, if you’re passionate about sledding 90 mph headfirst down an narrow icy slide that can produce up to five times the normal G-force on tight turns, most people might think you’re crazy.

But do you know who does not think you’re crazy? Another skeleton athlete. And that sounds nice, even if sometimes they’re rooting against you.

We’ve seen married couples compete together in these Olympics, but today’s women’s skeleton event features spouse vs. spouse.

They met, if you can believe, at a skeleton event in 2019; got engaged in 2024 on a trip when they both brought rings planning to propose; and were married last August in a small civil ceremony, a concession to the demands of dual Olympic training schedules.

Meyemans wrote on Instagram at the time, “with the Games being in Italy and the current Italian government making decisions/laws that hurt the LGBTQ+ community (read up on it if you don’t believe it), it feels extra special to potentially compete as married couple and shine a light on marriage equality while doing so.”

Team BB (Belgium and Brazil), as they call themselves, shares resources when they’re training and told The New York Times that any rivalry is muted because in skeleton you’re not on the ice at the same time as your competitors. But they are very in competition.

After the first two heats on Friday, Meylemans and Silveria were eighth and 12th, respectively. The final two heats are today… on Valentine’s Day. Of course.

Marco Odermatt with the bronze medal from the men's super-G on Wednesday.

Saturday’s men’s giant slalom (GS) will see all eyes focused on Switzerland’s Marco Odermatt.

The 28-year-old is the defending champion from Beijing 2022 and has been the dominant force in men’s Alpine ski racing for the past five seasons.

He’s won 29 GS races at World Cup events, including three of the seven this season.

But his Milan Cortina Games haven’t gone to plan so far.

A fourth place in the downhill – the competition he was prioritizing – a silver in the team combined and a bronze in the super-G have left him with today’s race as his last shot at gold.

“I’m satisfied, but not overjoyed,” Odermatt, who is on course to win the World Cup overall title for a fifth successive season, said after Wednesday’s super-G.

Odermatt finished his first run in a time of 1:14.87, seeming slightly disappointed as he currently sits in second in the very early going.

Brazil's Lucas Pinheiro Braathen competes in the first run of the men's giant slalom on Day 8 of the Games at Stelvio Alpine Skiing Centre in Bormio.

We could well see history made on the challenging Stelvio Slope this Saturday in the form of Lucas Pinheiro Braathen.

The Norway-born skier, who quit the Norwegian team in 2023 before returning a year later in the colors of Brazil, is strongly fancied to deliver South America’s first ever Winter Olympics medal.

The 25-year-old became the first Brazilian to win a World Cup race this season in Levi.

“I represent more than 200 million Brazilians, and I am the athlete with the greatest chance and opportunity to bring home a medal,” he said ahead of the race.

“It’s the kind of pressure you harness to reach your highest potential, and that is the state in which you can shine.”

And Pinheiro Braathen has set the standards very early on.

The Brazilian set an incredible time of 1:13.92 with only Marco Odermatt within 1.5 seconds of the run.

He’s certainly in pole position as things stand.

CNN Sports is on the road to Bormio from Milan.

The CNN Sports crew is headed to the snow-capped mountains of Bormio – roughly a three-hour drive north from Milan.

Today’s weather compared to last Saturday’s men’s downhill race couldn’t be more different.

If last week was bathed in glorious sunshine and warmth, today we’ve been greeted by a combination of rain and gloomy clouds.

Tricky conditions for the skiers as they prepare to take on one of toughest courses on the alpine circuit.

To Bormio we go!

TOPSHOT - Japan's Yuto Totsuka competes in the snowboard men's halfpipe final at Livigno Snow Park on Friday. (Photo by Kirill KUDRYAVTSEV / AFP via Getty Images)

Yesterday was full of Olympic action and storylines, and we’re still reeling from the stunning men’s figure skating.

Olympic favorite Ilia Malinin said he “blew it” after he placed a shocking eighth in the men’s singles. He fell twice during the routine and described a flood of “traumatic moments” rushing through his head before he began. Mikhail Shaidorov won gold in a massive and meaningful victory for Kazakhstan.

Here are other medal moments from yesterday:

USA’s hockey dominance: Team USA outshot Italy by an astonishing 51-6 margin in the game and advances to the semifinals in the quest for a third Olympic gold medal. The game ended 6-0.

Snowboarding close calls: Australia’s Josie Baff claimed gold in women’s snowboard cross by a narrow margin. Japan’s Yuto Totsuka took gold in the men’s snowboard halfpipe, with Australian snowboarding legend Scotty James in second after he fell at the last moment.

Czech Republic’s stunning gold: Nineteen-year-old Metodej Jilek claimed gold in the men’s 10,000m speed skating.

Norway’s skiing gold: Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo won an astonishing third gold medal of the Games after winning the 10km cross-country skiing interval start.

Men’s biathlon drama: Norway’s Sturla Holm Laegreid, who confessed on TV to cheating on his ex, won his second bronze of the Games in the men’s biathlon 10km sprint.

In other news:

Ukrainian’s appeal dismissed: Skeleton racer Vladyslav Heraskevych will remain disqualified from the Games for defying IOC guidelines banning his helmet featuring images of athletes killed during the war in Ukraine, the Court of Arbitration for Sport ruled.

Ice dance controversy: Questions swirl around a French duo winning the ice dancing event after a French judge’s marks swayed the result, knocking Americans Madison Chock and Evan Bates to silver.

CNN’s Aditi Sangal, Kevin Dotson, Frank Nunns O’Connell contributed to this report.

There are another eight medal events on Day 8 of the Games. Here’s what we’re looking at:

First thing’s first, today, we welcome you in Polish as super producer Aleks Klosok – who is on his way with CNN Sports’ Amanda Davies, photojournalist Will and field engineer Gian to Bormio – is from that lovely nation. OK, now that that’s out of the way…

Wow. Wow, wow, wow, wow… Wow.

Day 7 of the Olympics felt like it was going at a good pace and rhythm with nary an upset or shocking storyline then – BAM! – Ilia Malinin fell twice during an uncharacteristically sloppy and relatively simplistic routine on his way to eighth place. Yes, you read that right: eighth place. Off the podium with no Olympic men’s singles medal.

As my colleague Ben Church (spare a thought for our colleague who has been running around every nook and cranny of Milan these Games) put it, the confidence of the “Quad God” abandoned him, replaced with a fear that he himself said “overwhelmed” him.

And that’s the thing about the Games: They are an event like no other. And one thing about the Olympic Games is that underdog stories can come out and shine. With the “as big an upset in sports as we’ve probably ever seen” – thank you, CNN sports analyst Christine Brennan – comes the unlikely victory of Kazakhstan’s Mikhail Shaidorov who started his skating journey in a shopping mall, following the footsteps of the great Denis Ten.

What story will emerge on Day 8? Let’s find out.