The Livigno snow park delivered nearly two weeks of top‑level aerial acrobatics and tight, tactical races, as freeski and freestyle events at the Milan‑Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics produced a mix of predictable results and genuine surprises, with weather interruptions and dramatic tiebreakers shaping the final medal roster.

Big moments and headline winners

Men’s halfpipe produced one of the Games’ emotional highlights, when Alex Ferreira of the United States landed a near‑perfect third run for 93.75 points, completing an Olympic set that now includes bronze, silver and gold across three Games. His performance marked a late surge for the American freeski team in Livigno, and it came amid difficult weather that pushed schedules around and tested athletes’ consistency.

The snowpark’s other major shows saw Norway and Canada score landmark wins. In men’s big air, Tormod Frostad of Norway took gold in a high‑scoring final that went down to the last jump, while Canada’s Megan Oldham edged China’s Eileen Gu for the women’s big air title in another tight finish, by less than two points on combined scoring.

Dual formats and new Olympic additions left memorable storylines. The debut of dual moguls crowned a champion in Mikaël Kingsbury, who added a dramatic dual victory to an already unrivaled list of titles, while men’s moguls produced a tiebreak that handed Australia’s Cooper Woods a narrow gold over Kingsbury in the individual event.

Mixed team aerials, now a staple of the program, again delivered late‑night theater, as Team USA’s trio combined for a winning total to secure gold and, for the Americans, another signature moment late in the program.

Event by event: what happened

Slopestyle

• Men: Norway’s Birk Ruud reclaimed Olympic slopestyle gold with an early, technically superb runoff that set the mark for the final. Alex Hall of the United States took silver, after a clean second run, while New Zealand’s Luca Harrington captured bronze. The contest favored athletes who balanced rail precision with highly difficult jumps, and Ruud’s first‑run authority proved decisive.
• Women: Switzerland’s Mathilde Gremaud successfully defended her slopestyle crown, beating Eileen Gu by the slimmest of margins, in a final many called the most progressive women’s slopestyle Olympic contest yet.

Big air

• Men: Tormod Frostad, Norway, won gold in a high‑risk, high reward final that swung on the night’s last attempts, with silver and bronze decided by fractions.
• Women: Canada’s Megan Oldham won gold over Eileen Gu, in a final affected by heavy snow and wind delays, a reminder of how weather can reshape big‑air contests where run speed and clean landings are everything.

Halfpipe

• Men: Alex Ferreira completed his Olympic medal set with the halfpipe gold, landing a technically dense run under pressure.
• Women: The women’s halfpipe final faced postponement and scheduling disruption because of heavy snow, leaving some outcomes delayed until organizers could ensure a safe, fair pipe for all competitors.

“I’m just super grateful for this moment,” Ferreira said after his third run, a sentiment that captured the emotion in Livigno when a long‑chasing champion finally lands the win.

Moguls and dual moguls

• Women’s moguls: The United States went 1‑2 when Elizabeth “Liz” Lemley won gold and Jaelin Kauf took silver, an emphatic statement about the depth of the U.S. moguls program. France’s Perrine Laffont added bronze.
• Men’s moguls: Australia’s Cooper Woods stunned a field led by the sport’s perennial favorite, Mikaël Kingsbury of Canada, winning on a tiebreak after identical overall scores left judges to compare turn marks.
• Dual moguls: The Olympic debut of the head‑to‑head duals produced a memorable title for Mikaël Kingsbury, who used his experience and control to win the parallel format and add another gold to his career haul.

Aerials and mixed team aerials

• Women’s aerials: China’s veteran Xu Mengtao delivered a textbook, high‑difficulty jump in the super final to secure gold, adding historic depth to a storied career.
• Men’s aerials: Wang Xindi of China rose to the top of the podium, part of a strong Chinese aerials showing that included multiple finalists and a second podium spot in the men’s competition.
• Mixed team aerials: The event provided late program drama, with Team USA combining three strong final jumps to claim gold and close out Livigno with one of the event’s showpiece moments.

Ski cross

Ski cross again rewarded quick starts and tactical passing. Italy delighted the home crowd with a stunning 1‑2 finish in the men’s race, while Germany’s Daniela Maier took the women’s title, both events reinforcing that ski cross remains one of the sport’s most unpredictable, fan‑friendly formats.

Quick comparison table — gold medalists and decisive stats

The bigger picture: trends, tensions and what to watch next

• Progressive tricks continued their march into medal runs, raising both score ceilings and injury risk. Several athletes attempted new maneuvers under Olympic pressure, and a handful of high‑profile crashes prompted fresh conversations among coaches and federations about balancing progression and athlete safety.
• Weather was a recurring factor, with heavy snowfall and gusts prompting delays in Livigno and forcing schedule reshuffles. That variability affected big air and halfpipe most, where ramp speed and consistent wall shape are critical.
• National programs that invested in depth continued to pay off. China’s aerials system produced multiple podiums, the U.S. field collected top results across halfpipe and moguls, and Italy’s ski cross success underlined how host momentum can elevate performances.
• Mixed and dual formats, newly prominent on the Olympic program, created additional medal opportunities and dramatic television moments, reinforcing the IOC’s emphasis on formats that deliver head‑to‑head action and gender balance.

Voices from the snow

• Eileen Gu, after a narrow slopestyle loss, called her run at Livigno “the best slopestyle run I’ve ever done,” and framed her silver as motivation rather than defeat.
• Coaches, athletes and medical staff offered a range of views on risk and progression, from cautious calls for stricter practice run standards, to athletes arguing the only way the sport moves forward is by pushing trick difficulty in competition. Those debates are likely to shape rule tweaks and safety protocols before the next cycle.

Technical note: how judges convert tricks into scores (conceptual)

Below is a simplified pseudocode representation of how judges and timing combine in judged freestyle events. This is a conceptual model, intended to explain the mix of execution, difficulty and speed that shapes podium outcomes.

```

Example: simplified moguls scoring model

turns_score = judge_average_for_turns * turns_weight
air_score = judge_average_for_air * air_weight
time_score = (course_standard_time / athlete_time) * time_weight
final_score = (turns_score + air_score + time_score)

Example: simplified aerials scoring model

execution_points = sum(judges_execution_scores) - penalties
final = execution_points * degree_of_difficulty
```

Actual scoring protocols are managed by FIS and the Olympic technical committees, and they include calibrated judge panels, video review, and published rules governing tie procedures and difficulty multipliers.

What this means going forward

The Milan‑Cortina freestyle program left the sport with a rich set of storylines: generational moments for veterans who defended or completed medal sets, breakthrough wins by less expected athletes, and renewed attention to safety and scheduling in an era of more extreme tricks. Athletes will return to World Cups and world championships with fresh incentive to refine tricks that work under pressure, and national federations will revisit preparation routines to better manage weather and injury risk.

For viewers, Livigno delivered exactly what freestyle skiing promises—big air, instant drama and a very human mix of triumph and heartbreak. The sport’s appetite for progression remains undimmed, and the debate over how to steward that progression safely is very much alive.

If you want a quick follow up, I can produce a concise medal‑by‑medal results sheet, a timeline of weather delays and schedule changes, or a deeper look into one discipline, such as aerials or dual moguls.