After two rounds of qualification, four American women will have a chance to win Olympic gold in the women's moguls final.
The U.S. women's moguls team is the best in the world, with eight athletes competing on the World Cup circuit. Despite the competition to make one of the four Olympic spots on the U.S. team, all eight women are extremely tight knit. That being said, only the best could advance, and with four talented moguls skiers from the No. 1-ranked moguls team competing in the final, seeing more than one American on the podium is a real possibility.
Of course, they'll have to go through defending Olympic champion and FIS World Cup ranking leader Jakara Anthony (AUS) to do so.
The Aussie is in prime position to make history as the first woman to win back to back Olympic gold in moguls and the second in any freestyle skiing discipline after Switzerland's Mathilde Gremaud won back-to-back gold in slopestyle on Feb. 9.
After winning three World Cup events in a row, Anthony came into these Games with a precision and technique that has been unmatched since December. Topping qualifications gives her an additional boost of confidence heading into Wednesday's final.
Americans Olivia Giaccio and Liz Lemley finished less than one point behind Anthony in the first qualification round. Sitting at third and fourth in the rankings, both women have put Anthony to the test on the World Cup circuit.
Tess Johnson (USA), who is second to Anthony in the rankings, is the sole athlete to best the Aussie in moguls this season with a victory at the first World Cup event of the season. All three American women advanced to the final in the first round of qualification alongside Anthony.
Teammate Jaelin Kauf advanced to the final after placing 2nd in the second round of qualification following a 24th-place finish in the first qualification round. Despite her struggles in moguls this season, the 2022 Olympic silver medalist put up quite a fight to advance, besting Austria's Avital Carroll and Japan's Rino Yanagimoto.