US captures record 11th gold medal at the Winter Olympics with mixed aerials win

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US captures record 11th gold medal at the Winter Olympics with mixed aerials win

The bulk of Team USA’s roster is made up of first-time Olympians like Connor Curran. He had imagined what being here would feel like, but it turns out his imagination wasn’t big enough for how incredible it actually is. This is way crazier and *** lot more exciting for sure. What is it about it that has been like just kind of mind blowing for you so far? Um, all the athletes like from all the different countries at the village, I’ve never seen teams of like that size all in one place, so that’s been pretty cool. And just the level of competition that’s out here is amazing. What for you being an Olympian, what would you say it represents in terms of your career? You’ve done so many things and you’ve sacrificed *** lot to be able to do it. So for you, like actually making it here and getting *** chance to compete and represent your country, what does that mean for you? It’s the biggest honor ever like been training my whole life for this and sacrificed *** lot of things, so yeah, it’s *** huge deal for me and all my other teammates that are here competing with me. I know you’ve moved around *** lot to be able to do this goal, but you still have *** lot of people back home who cheer you on from afar. Do you have anything you want to say to them? Thank you guys for supporting me. I love you all. This Olympics is really spread out, so there are *** lot of athletes who won’t get to spend much, if any, time in Milan, but the aerialists don’t compete until the 17th, so they’ve got *** little extra time to soak in the experience at the Milan Cortina Olympics. I’m Deirdre Fitzpatrick.

US captures record 11th gold medal at the Winter Olympics with mixed aerials win

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Updated: 5:43 AM MST Feb 21, 2026

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The U.S. Olympic team won its record-breaking 11th gold medal of the Winter Games on Saturday when the trio of Kaila Kuhn, Connor Curran and Chris Lillis took the title in mixed aerials.The trio landed strong tricks for a combined 325.35 points, putting them ahead of silver medalist Switzerland by more than 28 points.The 11th gold breaks a record set at the last Olympics on U.S. soil — in Salt Lake City in 2002, which has long stood out as a turning point for a Winter-sports program that had struggled over previous decades.The medal lifted the U.S. to 30 overall for the Olympics. That’s second to Norway, which a day earlier won its 17th gold medal to set a Winter Games record. There are 38 more medal events this year than there were in 2002.This marks a repeat for Lillis, who teamed with Ashley Caldwell and Justin Schoenefeld four years ago to win at the Beijing Games.PHNjcmlwdCB0eXBlPSJ0ZXh0L2phdmFzY3JpcHQiPiFmdW5jdGlvbigpeyJ1c2Ugc3RyaWN0Ijt3aW5kb3cuYWRkRXZlbnRMaXN0ZW5lcigibWVzc2FnZSIsKGZ1bmN0aW9uKGUpe2lmKHZvaWQgMCE9PWUuZGF0YVsiZGF0YXdyYXBwZXItaGVpZ2h0Il0pe3ZhciB0PWRvY3VtZW50LnF1ZXJ5U2VsZWN0b3JBbGwoImlmcmFtZSIpO2Zvcih2YXIgYSBpbiBlLmRhdGFbImRhdGF3cmFwcGVyLWhlaWdodCJdKWZvcih2YXIgcj0wO3I8dC5sZW5ndGg7cisrKXtpZih0W3JdLmNvbnRlbnRXaW5kb3c9PT1lLnNvdXJjZSl0W3JdLnN0eWxlLmhlaWdodD1lLmRhdGFbImRhdGF3cmFwcGVyLWhlaWdodCJdW2FdKyJweCJ9fX0pKX0oKTs8L3NjcmlwdD4=

The U.S. Olympic team won its record-breaking 11th gold medal of the Winter Games on Saturday when the trio of Kaila Kuhn, Connor Curran and Chris Lillis took the title in mixed aerials.

The trio landed strong tricks for a combined 325.35 points, putting them ahead of silver medalist Switzerland by more than 28 points.

The 11th gold breaks a record set at the last Olympics on U.S. soil — in Salt Lake City in 2002, which has long stood out as a turning point for a Winter-sports program that had struggled over previous decades.

Gold medalists Christopher Lillis of Team United States, Connor Curran of Team United States and Kaila Kuhn of Team United States pose for a photo during the medal ceremony for the Mixed Team Aerials Final on Day 15 of the Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic Games at Livigno Air Park on February 21, 2026, in Livigno, Italy.

Michael Reaves

Gold medalists Christopher Lillis of Team United States, Connor Curran of Team United States and Kaila Kuhn of Team United States pose for a photo during the medal ceremony for the Mixed Team Aerials Final on Day 15 of the Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic Games at Livigno Air Park on February 21, 2026, in Livigno, Italy.

The medal lifted the U.S. to 30 overall for the Olympics. That’s second to Norway, which a day earlier won its 17th gold medal to set a Winter Games record.

There are 38 more medal events this year than there were in 2002.

This marks a repeat for Lillis, who teamed with Ashley Caldwell and Justin Schoenefeld four years ago to win at the Beijing Games.

USA's Connor Curran competes in the freestyle skiing mixed team aerials final 1 during the Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic Games at Livigno Aerials and Moguls Park in Livigno on Feb. 21.

JEFF PACHOUD

USA’s Connor Curran competes in the freestyle skiing mixed team aerials final 1 during the Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic Games at Livigno Aerials and Moguls Park in Livigno on Feb. 21.



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