Vail moguls skiers really feel proud, ready for the 2026 Winter Olympic Games

The members of the U.S. Olympic mogul ski workforce met with the press in Livigno, Italy on Wednesday morning.

Vail’s Tess Johnson and Liz Lemley will lead one of many deepest mogul groups in historical past. The former Ski and Snowboard Club Vail athletes are joined by defending crystal globe winner Jaelin Kauf — who was additionally born in Vail — and Olivia Giaccio, who frolicked at SSCV earlier than transferring to Steamboat Springs. Fellow SSCV alumni Dylan Walczyk joins Charlie Mickel, Nick Page and Landon Wendler on the lads’s facet.

Mogul qualification for each genders begins on Feb. 10. The girls’s mogul last is Feb. 11, whereas the lads take to the course on Feb. 12. Dual moguls is slated for Feb. 14 and 15.

An accolade they’re happy with

• Walczyk: “I’m proud to have pursued my passion for the last 20 years.”
• Lemley: “I’m proud of coming back after an ACL injury.”
• Johnson: “Sweeping 1-2-3-4 spots with my teammates here just a couple weeks ago at a World Cup in Canada.”
• Kauf: “Winning the overall tour last season.”

How good does this Olympics really feel after the Beijing 2022 expertise?

Johnson: “I mean I think I speak for every athlete when I say that COVID was tough on both the summer Olympics in Tokyo and the winter Olympics in Beijing. Even just on World Cup, the atmosphere was so much different, so I’m really happy for everyone that gets to experience a real Olympics again … I’m soaking it all in and I’m very proud of the obstacles I’ve overcome to get here, but I couldn’t have done it without the people sitting next to me, my coaches, my family – it has taken a village.”

On how laborious it could be for Lindsey Vonn to compete with an ACL damage

Lemley: “I think it all depends on the magnitude of the injury. I’ve read a few things about Lindsey’s injury — she’s torn her ACL fully, she has a few meniscus issues as well. I think it’s entirely possible for her to perform because as long as your quad is firing correctly, you can still move your knee in the way you want it to.”

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On whether or not there are classes to be realized from his facet passion: paragliding

Walczyk: “No, under no circumstances. It’s a totally completely different sport. It’s tremendous enjoyable. There’s a component of danger in mogul snowboarding and definitely paragliding is an excessive danger additionally, nevertheless it means that you can sort of come at peace with that stage of danger and stream with the character – and mogul snowboarding may be very comparable. It’s a pleasant crossover.“

On coping with the strain of being one of many favorites

Kauf: “I’ve definitely learned a lot from the last couple Olympics with that. I went into 2018 with the No. 1 bib as a favorite for those Games and I put more pressure on myself than anyone else. And I felt that pressure mentally at those Games and I learned a lot from that – just how to handle competing on this stage and the expectations and pressure and all of that. What I really took into the 2022 Games and am carrying into this Olympics as well is just kind of that pressure is a privilege and it is what you make of it. And that pressure comes from an immense amount of love and support from so many people all over the world watching and cheering me on. So that’s what carries me out there skiing.”

On sporting the yellow bib to begin the season

Johnson: “It felt like kind of a culmination of the past four years of training and prep. We look at our careers kind of in Olympic quad cycles. I had a back injury in 2023, that really set me at ground zero. It felt like Ruka was the culmination of all that work – both on the hill, off the hill. And I mean to win was just incredible. I don’t know that I was fully expecting it and I think that’s the headspace I like to be in: just focusing on my skiing and what I can control.”

On the two-run qualification format

Walczyk: “It doesn’t change much for me. I think that the hard part is already done. Just qualifying for this team – we have so much depth in the United States for mogul skiing – so just qualifying for this team is an amazing feat. From now on, it’s just chasing that perfect run, that great run – that once-in-a-lifetime run.”

On representing the U.S.

Kauf: “I’m extremely proud to be right here, representing the U.S., sporting the flag on our arm. Sports have an unbelievable energy to deliver us collectively.“