Dual moguls isn’t a new event — just new to the Winter Olympics.
The event has been part of the FIS World Cup circuit since 1995, just three years after moguls first debuted on the Olympic program. Now, 30 years later, dual moguls finally will take its place on the Olympic stage.
Here’s how it works: two skiers compete against each other on side-by-side mogul courses. Seven judges — each tasked with evaluating a specific piece of criteria, and each with five votes — compare the two runs and decide how to distribute their votes. The skier with the most votes wins the matchup and moves on to the next round.
Because of how the judging works, the first skier to cross the line isn't automatically presumed to be the winner. However, speed sometimes can end up being the decisive factor in these matchups.
While the addition of a new event is one of the most notable changes in freestyle skiing since the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, that’s not all that’s happened. Below is a deep dive into the biggest developments, new names to know and more for moguls, aerials and ski cross as the 2026 Milan Cortina Games approach.
Moguls and Dual Moguls
What are the major storylines?
Australia’s Jakara Anthony, the reigning Olympic champion in women’s moguls, had a dominant 2023-24 season on the World Cup circuit, winning seven of eight moguls competitions and seven of eight dual moguls events.
Then she broke her collarbone in December 2024 and missed the majority of last season.
In Anthony’s absence, American Jaelin Kauf had a career year. The 2022 Olympic silver medalist was difficult to beat and ultimately captured her first-ever season titles in both moguls and dual moguls. She punctuated the campaign by winning dual moguls at the 2025 World Championships for her first-ever world title.
Anthony returned to competition this winter and is the current leader in the World Cup standings. But it's clear that she will face a challenge not just from Kauf, but from the entire U.S. women's team, which also includes 2018 Olympian Tess Johnson, 2022 Olympian Olivia Giaccio and Olympic debutant Liz Lemley. There's also France's Perrine Laffont, who won world titles in 2023 and 2025 to extend her streak to three straight.
In the men’s events, Canadian star Mikael Kingsbury recently earned his 100th World Cup victory. He holds the record among all mogul skiers.
There have been exceptions to Kingsbury’s dominance, though. His longtime rival (and perennial runner-up), Ikuma Horishima of Japan, finally captured his first-ever World Cup title, narrowly edging out Kingsbury to claim the 2023-24 Crystal Globe for moguls. Horishima also managed to beat Kingsbury for the moguls world title in 2025.
As for the reigning Olympic champion, Sweden’s Walter Wallberg has remained a factor and even won several World Cup events since his surprising gold-medal performance in Beijing. However, he hasn’t consistently been at the level of Kingsbury and Horishima, and he missed the end of last season due to separate injuries to his back and shoulder.
Who’s in and who’s out?
Several well-known names will be missing from Milan Cortina. Justine Dufour-Lapointe, the 2014 Olympic gold medalist, left moguls to compete in freeride skiing and is now a two-time world champion in that discipline. Her sister and fellow Olympic medalist, Chloe Dufour-Lapointe, has also retired from moguls.
Who are some of the new stars?
- Liz Lemley (USA): Lemley, who recently turned 20, is one of the new faces on the U.S. team. Since debuting on the World Cup circuit, she's earned one victory and seven podiums. Currently ranked 4th overall, she's on pace for the best season of her young career.
- Maia Schwinghammer (CAN): The 24-year-old has improved each season on the World Cup circuit. Last winter, she won her first moguls event and finished 3rd in the season standings. Schwinghammer also won a bronze medal in women’s moguls at the 2025 World Championships.
Aerials
What are the major storylines?
In individual aerials, China’s reigning Olympic champions both have returned to the medal mix after taking some time off. Qi Guangpu missed the 2022-23 season but now has won back-to-back World Cup titles in men’s aerials. Xu Mengtao made her full-time return to the World Cup circuit last season and finished 2nd in the World Cup standings (behind Australia’s Laura Peel) for women’s aerials. Both skiers will be 35 during the Milan Cortina Games.
Meanwhile in mixed team aerials, the United States followed up its win at Beijing 2022 with back-to-back world titles in 2023 and 2025. Chris Lillis and Quinn Dehlinger were part of both championship teams, while Ashley Caldwell (2023) and Kaila Kuhn (2025) each contributed to one title.
Those results reflect Team USA’s deep pool of talent. Dehlinger and Kuhn, in particular, have been the breakthrough performers from these past few years. Apart from their mixed team results, Dehlinger has won back-to-back silver medals at the world championships and was the first skier to lock down a spot on the Olympic aerials team, while Kuhn won her first individual world title in 2025.
Kuhn and Winter Vinecki both won World Cup events this season. Vinecki, who finished 2nd in the 2023-24 World Cup standings for women's aerials, missed most of last season due to a herniated disc but opted to let it heal naturally rather than undergo a spinal fusion.
Who’s in and who’s out?
Four-time Olympian Ashley Caldwell, who hasn’t competed since the 2023 World Championships, gave birth to her first child in July but decided that the logistics of Olympic qualifying weren't feasible. Caldwell finished 4th in women’s aerials at the last Winter Games and helped the U.S. capture gold in the mixed team event. In 2017, she became the first woman to land a quadruple-twisting triple flip known as “The Daddy.”
Another U.S. woman, 2022 bronze medalist Megan Nick, also has not competed since the end of the 2022-23 season.
Who are some of the new stars?
- Quinn Dehlinger (USA): The 23-year-old is a rising star ahead of his Olympic debut. Dehlinger won his first career World Cup event in 2023 and has a pair of individual silver medals and a pair of mixed team gold medals from the last two world championships.
- Kaila Kuhn (USA): In 2025, Kuhn became the youngest American to win an individual aerials world title (she was 21 at the time). It was her first major victory in any senior-level event. Kuhn made her Olympic debut in 2022, finishing 8th in women’s aerials.
Ski Cross
What are the major storylines?
More than a year after the women’s ski cross final took place in Beijing, Switzerland’s Fanny Smith received her Olympic bronze medal as a long saga reached its conclusion.
During the Beijing Games, Smith finished 3rd in the big final but received a yellow card for making contact with Germany’s Daniela Maier near the end of the race. That penalty bumped Smith down to 4th and upgraded Maier to a bronze medal. Smith appealed the decision and, six days after the Closing Ceremony, was reinstated as the bronze medalist after a panel determined that the contact was “neither intentional nor avoidable.”
That decision was appealed by Maier to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, and eventually, in December 2022, an agreement was reached to award two bronze medals, which Smith and Maier would share. Smith received her bronze medal at a ceremony held in April 2023.
Both women have been strong in the years since the Beijing Games, particularly last season when Smith and Maier went 1-2 in the World Cup standings. Smith also won gold at the 2025 World Championships, with Maier earning a bronze medal.
However, those results notably came with Sweden’s Sandra Naeslund and Canada’s Marielle Thompson, the gold and silver medalists from Beijing 2022, both missing time due to injury. Both skiers are four-time World Cup champions and have won titles during this current Olympic cycle.
Injury issues also hit the Swiss men's team. After going 1-2 in men’s ski cross at Beijing, Ryan Regez and Alex Fiva both tore their ACLs in December 2022. Returning to action the following season, Fiva finished 3rd in the World Cup standings, but Regez struggled to regain his form. In February 2025 — three years after winning Olympic gold — Regez finally returned to the top of the podium at a World Cup event. A month later, he won his first-ever world title.
During this time, Canadian Reece Howden has been the most consistent performer on the men’s side and has won the World Cup title in two of the past three seasons.
Who’s in and who’s out?
Brady Leman, a three-time Olympian who won gold in 2018, announced his retirement at the end of the 2022-23 season. The Canadian went out on top, winning a World Cup event on home snow in the final race of his career. It was his first World Cup win in four years and the sixth of his long, illustrious career.
Who are some of the new stars?
- Simone Deromedis (ITA): The 25-year-old finished fifth at Beijing 2022 but has really broken through during the current Olympic cycle. He won his first world title in 2023 and was 2nd in the 2024-25 World Cup standings. Deromedis will be one of the host nation’s top medal hopefuls across all sports at the Milan Cortina Games.
What's happened since Beijing in other disciplines?
Learn about the biggest developments in other events ahead of the 2026 Winter Olympics.