US Women land two more on the podium at World Cup in Deer Valley

PARK CITY, Utah — The 2024 Intermountain Health Freestyle International on Saturday, Feb. 3, finished with a bang.

2024 World Cup, Women’s Dual Mogul Podium. 1st place Jakara Anthony(AUS), 2nd place Jaelin Kauf (USA), 3rd place Olivia Giaccio (USA), Deer Valley, UT.

There was another double podium for the US women in dual moguls. For the uninitiated dual moguls is a single-elimination knockout contest. Sixty-four people begin, but there’s only one winner.

Jaelin Kauf (US) on the podium accepting third place finish 2024 Women’s Dual Mogul, Intermountain Health, Freestyle International World Cup, Deer Valley, UT. (Joe Davis/KSL NewsRadio)

The US Team is superb at this event, especially the women’s team. They nearly dethroned Australia’s Jakara Anthony, the current world number one. After the powder settled it was Anthony in first place, Jalein Kauf of the United States in second, and Olivia Giaccio in third.

The qualification rounds for the women’s team were particularly challenging, with nuking snow and nearly zero visibility. Jalein Kauf referred to it as “brail moguls.” The crashes were plentiful and spectacular. The judges stopped the competition once neither they nor the camera crew could no longer see the competitors on the course.

Saturday night saw the highest crowd attendance for finals of the three nights of competition. It was a truly exciting night under the stars and the lights of the dual mogul tracks.

2024 World Cup, Men’s Dual Mogul Podium. 1st place Ikuma Horishima (JPN), 2nd place Benjamin Cavet (FRA), 3rd place Dylan Marcellini (USA), Deer Valley, UT. (Joe Davis/KSL NewsRadio)

The men’s competition was just as exciting with amazing tricks and their share of big crashes.  The final round saw two Americans dueling for third place;  Dylan Marcellini (US) edged out his teammate Nick Page (US) to get the last spot on the podium. Ikuma Horishima (Japan) took the first place spot with a solid win over Benjamin Cavet of France.

2024 US Freestyle Mogul Team, Intermountain Health, Freestyle International World Cup, Deer Valley. (Joe Davis/KSL NewsRadio)

The wrap of the three nights of freestyle skiing events at Deer Valley was a drone show and a spontaneous athlete party in the outrun.

(Joe Davis/KSL NewsRadio)

Keep reading

• Park City resident wins podium finish at World Cup
• US Women win big with one-two finish in Mogul World Cup at Deer Valley