Last weekend in Thaiwoo, China, Jaelin Kauf, who grew up skiing at Grand Targhee Resort, racked up the two World Cup mogul podiums necessary to receive a bid for the 2018 Winter Olympics in PyeongChang, South Korea.
Although the U.S. women’s mogul team is fiercely competitive and in China five U.S. women packed the top ten in the first event, the 21-year-old is now guaranteed an Olympic spot.
“It’s so huge to be able to accomplish a goal as big as the Olympics. It’s honestly a dream come true and I’m so happy I can start to focus now on making the best of it,” she said.
Kauf, who started her ascendancy on the mogul world stage in 2016, took fifth at this season’s first World Cup in Ruka, Finland and has only gained momentum since. On Dec. 21, she netted her first World Cup win in standard moguls. She has taken several podiums in dual moguls, but single or standard moguls is the only mogul event featured in the Olympics. Kauf took second by a slim margin on Dec. 22 and retained the overall World Cup leader’s jersey.
“Jaelin introduced herself to the world this week,” said U.S. Ski Team head mogul coach Matt Gnoza during an interview with U.S. Ski and Snowboard. “It’s great to see all the work she put in during the prep period pay off. She proved she’s one of the fastest mogul skiers and, with this week’s performance, she has proven that she can dominate in both singles and duals.”
Kauf came back to the states after a few hectic weeks of travel and will have four events in North America in January, first in Calgary, Alberta, then two in Utah. The pre-Olympic season will finish up in Tremblant, Quebec. She said she’s very happy to be staying on this continent for the next month, as long flights to Europe and Asia can take a toll on athletes. Even better, a large Teton Valley support group is planning to make the trek south to Deer Valley on Jan. 10 and 11 to cheer her on.
Immediately after landing on the tarmac in Salt Lake City, Kauf returned to Teton Valley for a short stint of relaxation and family time before the next set of World Cup events.
“The welcome here at home has been incredible and everyone is wishing me good luck and congrats. It’s amazing,” she said. “Everyone is so proud and I feel so lucky to come home to Teton Valley.”
