The United States will send eight athletes to the 2026 Winter Olympics in aerials skiing, with Olympic gold medalist Chris Lillis and two-time Olympians Winter Vinecki and Kaila Kuhn leading the pack.
The full U.S. Olympic freestyle skiing roster, which also includes the moguls and dual moguls events, is made up of 16 skiers across all disciplines. In aerials, there are 25 quota spots each for men and women. Athletes who receive a quota spot are eligible to compete in the mixed team event if their country is participating. The U.S. did not have a formal Olympic Trials event, relying on a series of selection events that helped decide the team instead.
Meet the aerials skiers representing Team USA...
Kyra Dossa
Kyra Dossa will be making her Olympic debut just three years after taking up aerials. The 22-year-old trained as a competitive gymnast in Ohio for 16 years. She started skiing when she was three years old, spending her childhood skiing in Utah and Colorado. Retired freestyle aerial coach Carrie Miller first introduced aerials to a then 17-year-old Dossa after the two met by chance in Park City, Utah. At Miller's invitation, Dossa visited Utah Olympic Park's training facility, where she joined the Park City Ski & Snowboard freestyle team after spending five days in the training camp. After competing on the NorAm circuit, she received an invitation to compete at the 2024 Freestyle International at Deer Valley. She finished eighth in her World Cup debut. Dossa's best result on the World Cup stage came earlier this season in Ruka, Finland, where she placed fourth. When she's not skiing, Dossa likes to hike, camp and secondhand shop.
Winter Vinecki
Winter Vinecki grew up in Gaylord, Michigan, where she competed in triathlons and marathons. When she was 14 years old, she became the youngest person to run a marathon on all seven continents. Three-time Olympian Emily Cook invited Vinecki to an aerials skiing camp when she was 12. Shortly after, she moved to Park City, Utah, to train competitively. Vinecki made her Olympic debut in Beijing in 2022, and during the 2023-24 season, she won three individual FIS World Cup events for a second-place finish in the final World Cup rankings. This season, she earned two podium finishes, winning her fifth individual aerials World Cup event in Lac-Beauport. Vinecki also founded Team Winter, a non-profit raising money for prostate cancer research in honor of her father Michael, who passed away from prostate cancer when she was nine years old.
Kaila Kuhn
Kaila Kuhn is making her second Olympic appearance at just 22 years of age. The Michigan native started skiing when she was just 18 months old, and like Dossa, she was a competitive gymnast. Vinecki reached out to Kuhn after watching a video of her on the trampoline, suggesting she try aerials with her extensive gymnastics and ski racing background. At 15, Kuhn compete in her first FIS World Championship. She competed in her first Winter Olympic Games in 2022, where she placed eighth. During the 2024-25 season, Kuhn began competing with triples, a feat few women in aerials attempt. At the end of the season, she won two world titles, becoming the youngest American to win an individual world title in aerials and the first aerialist to win two gold medals at a single world championship. This season, she earned four podium finishes, one of which was her first-ever World Cup win.
Tasia Tanner
Tasia Tanner started skiing at two years old, joining Rowmark Ski Academy five years later. She originally trained as an Alpine skier before injuring her knee in high school, but she always had a fascination with the ramp-style competition of skiing after discovering water ramps at Utah Olympic Park when she was 12 years old. Tanner joined the U.S. Ski Team during the 2021-22 season, competing on the World Cup for the first time at Deer Valley Resort in 2021. She tried several disciplines like big mountain and big air before settling on aerials. She has claimed 10 podium finishes on the NorAm Cup circuit. Tanner earned six top-10 finishes on the World Cup circuit during the 2023-24 season, and at the end of the season, she won the FIS Rookie of the Year award. Tanner made her world championships debut at the 2025 FIS Freestyle World Ski Championships, where she finished in 16th.
Quinn Dehlinger
Quinn Dehlinger began skiing when he was 10, learning on the Perfect North Slopes in Indiana. When he was 12, he joined a water ramp camp in Lake Placid, New York, after being scouted at a big air event. He briefly experimented with slopestyle before committing to aerials fulltime. By the time he was 17, the Cincinnati native had earned a spot on the U.S. Ski Team. Dehlinger claimed his first World Cup podium in 2023 in Le Relais, Canada, where he won his first career individual World Cup event. Since then, he's won two World Cup events, one individual and one team, and secured two additional podium finishes. Dehlinger placed in the top three on the 2024–25 FIS Base List, qualifying him for his first Olympic Games.
Chris Lillis
Chris Lillis trained in aerials in upstate New York alongside his older brother Jon Lillis, a 2017 world champion and 2018 Olympian. When he was 17, Chris became the youngest man to win a FIS aerials World Cup event when he secured victory in Minsk in 2016. He has won gold at the world championships in mixed team aerials twice (2023, 2025) as well as claimed a second-place finish in the individual competition in 2021. At the 2021 FIS Freestyle Ski World Championships, he landed a quintuple-twisting triple flip, becoming the first American since Jeret "Speedy" Peterson to successfully land a quintuple in competition. He nailed the trick again during the mixed team aerials competition at the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, where he secured Olympic gold. In 2025, Lillis, Kuhn, and Dehlinger successfully defended the United States' world title in mixed team aerials.
Connor Curran
Connor Curran discovered aerials when he was seven years old after watching athletes train on water jumps at Utah Olympic Park. He joined a trampoline and tumbling team in his hometown, training for four years to master flips and twists. When he was 13, he moved to Lake Placid, New York, to train at the Olympic Training Center. He moved to Park City, Utah, two years later to join the Park City Ski & Snowboard's aerials program. He debuted on the World Cup circuit during the 2023-24 season, where he claimed his first super finals appearance and first top-five result. Curran earned his first ever podium finish on the World Cup circuit in 2024, when he placed second in Deer Valley. He finished third at the FIS Junior World Championships later that season. In January 2025, Curran won his first U.S. National Championship title. He will be competing in his first Olympic Games this year.
Derek Krueger
Derek Krueger started training in aerials skiing with the Park City Ski & Snowboard's Elite Aerial Development Program. In 2020, he trained in the U.S. Ski & Snowboard's inaugural Aerials Development Camp, learning how to perfect basic flips while training a double full full (a double backflip with three twists). He placed third at the 2022 U.S. Championships in Bristol, New York, leading U.S. Ski to name him to the team for the 2023-24 season. He earned his first top 10 finish on the World Cup circuit in 2022 in Le Relais, Canada, and he earned his career best finish on the World Cup earlier this season with a fourth place finish in the individual event in Lake Placid, New York.
