Park City Aerialists Lillis, Kuhn, Curran Win Back-to-Back Olympic Mixed Team Gold

Park City aerialists Chris Lillis, Kaila Kuhn and Connor Curran clinched gold in the mixed-team aerials final at Livigno Aerials & Moguls Park in Livigno, Italy, on Saturday, Feb. 21, 2026, posting a combined 325.35 to defend the title the U.S. first won in Beijing in 2022. Park Record listed the three individual scores that sum to 325.35 but printed 325.25 in one line; the arithmetic of 117.19 + 113.72 + 94.44 supports 325.35 as the official total.

The Americans landed all six of their final jumps, with Lillis scoring 117.19 on a back double full-full-full, Kuhn scoring 113.72 on a back full-full-full and Curran scoring 94.44 on a back full-double full-full, Park Record reported. Those scores combined to top Switzerland, which took silver with 296.91, and China, which finished bronze at 279.68.

China entered as the heavy favorite with individual medalists Wang Xindi and Xu Mengtao on its roster, but a dramatic late error by Li Tianma changed the outcome. NBC described Li’s adjusted five-twist attempt this way: “Li Tianma adjusted his own jump to five twists to try to put China back in contention for gold; however, he wasn't able to stomp down the landing and fell head over heels, losing both skis in the process. It all came down to Lillis, who nailed a double full-full-full and sealed the win for the U.S.” The U.S. margin over Switzerland was 28.44 points, NBC summed it as “more than 28 points.”

Chris Lillis, the lone returning member of the U.S. mixed-team that won in Beijing with Ashley Caldwell and Justin Schoenefeld, becomes a double Olympic champion after Saturday’s win. Lillis tied the team dynamic to the result in remarks reported by Park Record and USA TODAY: “We’ve had quite a lot of success with it. I’ve thought about it quite a bit. … I think the fact that a lot of U.S. athletes come from team sports and use each other as motivation really helps us.” USA TODAY captured the moment of celebration: “Alerted of the news in the mixed zone as gold medals hung at chest-level, the trio reacted with a mixture of pleasant surprise and glee.”

Kaila Kuhn’s 113.72 and stuck back full-full-full in the final carried special weight after she finished 5th in the individual event; The New York Times noted she had been “paralyzed by fear” of the 50-foot triple kicker and “turned to hypnosis” to manage that fear. Connor Curran, who placed 12th in the individual aerials earlier at these Games, produced what the New York Times called the high point of his young career in Livigno.

Saturday’s gold also had broader Olympic significance: outlets including NBC Olympics and USA TODAY reported the mixed-team win as the United States’ 11th gold at Milan Cortina 2026, surpassing the U.S. total of 10 golds in Salt Lake City 2002. WCVB reported the medal lifted the U.S. to 30 total medals at these Games while NBC noted Norway remained ahead in golds and totals. Locally, the Utah Sports Commission and Park City outlets celebrated the three Park City aerialists; Park Record’s photo caption identified them left to right as “Chris Lillis, Connor Curran and Kaila Kuhn,” crediting Chris Randour/U.S. Ski Team.

Lillis signaled personal and team ambitions after the podium: “I’ve fallen just short twice now, and it hurts, and I know that I’m capable of more… And we’ll see, maybe in the future, I’ll be able to get that monkey off my back and get on the individual podium.” For Summit County and Park City, the back-to-back golds underline a concentrated local talent pipeline in aerials and cap a signature Olympic night for three hometown athletes.