ALTA, Wyo. — Last winter, Alta, WY native Jaelin Kauf won over the hearts of locals and the entire country when she took home a silver Olympic medal in Beijing women’s freestyle moguls, and this past weekend proved she’s still a force to be reckoned with.
This past Saturday at the World Championships in Bakuriani, Georgia, Kauf ended the U.S.’s eight-year-long medal drought by grabbing another silver.
“I’m stoked with this last week at World Champs, taking home some hardware both days,” said Kauf. “This second half of the season, I’ve really been focusing on my strengths (turns and speed) and really leaning into those and using that to my advantage. I was able to do just that at Worlds and had a lot of fun with it!”
Kauf scored 83.56 and was just edged out by France’s Perrine Laffont who tallied 87.40 points. In women’s freestyle moguls, competitors charge down a 235-meter course with a slope of about 28 degrees, filled with bumps about every 12 feet apart. Skiers hit jumps at both ends of the course to execute an array of tricks, flips and spins. Scoring is based on a combination of 60 percent mogul turn technique, 20 percent speed and 20 percent jump quality.
“It’s been amazing to watch her continue to push the sport,” said Jaelin’s brother Skyler Kauf. “She’s closing in on a decade of being one of the top skiers in the world and has a good time doing it. I couldn’t be happier for her.”
Despite coming up short to France’s Laffont again, Kauf landed another silver medal in the women’s Dual Moguls, which made for a total of four world championship top three finishes for the Alta native, and Grand Targhee skier.
Congrats Jaelin!
