Jaelin Kauf Won The First-Ever Olympic Silver Medal In Dual Moguls

In Bustle’s The Pregame, we ask athletes about their pregame rituals. How do they get in the zone? What do they listen to? Do they have any superstitions before a big competition? Here, Team USA freestyle skier Jaelin Kauf shares how she handles burnout, her lucky charms, and her Pilates journey with iFit.

Skier Jaelin Kauf is heading home from the Milano-Cortina Winter Games with the first-ever Olympic silver medal in women’s dual moguls. The event made its Olympic debut on Feb. 14, but Kauf was already a veteran. The reigning dual moguls world champion competed in moguls at the PyeongChang Olympics in 2018, then returned four years later to win silver in Beijing.

Moguls is a solo event, but in dual moguls, two competitors race head-to-head towards the bottom of the slope. They’re scored on speed, turns, and mid-air tricks as they navigate a bumpy course. It’s an ideal event for Kauf, who thrives under pressure.

“I think I definitely excel as a skier when I just really let things go, and that's a bit of what duals is all about,” she tells Bustle. “From the get- go, the gate drops, and I'm going to get out in front, get off the top air first, and hopefully never see my competitor again.”

In preparation for this year’s Winter Games, the American skiers partnered with iFit, which outfitted the team’s Park City gym with Pilates reformers. They’re a welcome addition for Kauf, who took up Pilates as a form of physical therapy for a back injury in 2021.

“I know I'm still young, but definitely older in this sport,” says the 29-year-old athlete. “And so I've focused a lot more on Pilates and lower impact. We get enough impact on the mogul course, and outside of it, try to limit that as much as possible.”

Kauf is well aware that success isn’t guaranteed; she placed seventh in freestyle mogul in PyeongChang, just missing the finals cutoff. Now, she skis with a mindset of leaving it all on the slopes, repeating her mantra to “Deliver tThe Love” — a reminder to herself that she’s in the race for the love of the game. (It’s also the name of her foundation, created to empower women and girls in sports.)

“I never wanted to look back at the course and know I had something left to give,” she says.

Her strategy clearly works — she’s also leaving the Italian slopes with a n silver in moguls, bringing her total Olympic medal count to three.

Below, Kauf shares how she handles difficult times in her career, how she preps for a race, and what’s going through her head as she flies down the mountain.

What does the morning before a race look like for you?

Honestly, I'm pretty casual when it comes to these things, but probably just hanging out, having a cup of coffee and breakfast, and doing a 15-minute warmup before going out.

A decent amount of core work is important. I've definitely had some back issues, so I've always focused a lot on making sure that my core is firing before I go out skiing.

Do you have any superstitions or rituals for good luck?

I ski with a pocket full of little charms, which are mostly just a collection of things my mom has given me over the years. I also listen to the same song before I go out in the start gate. I have a bunch of “wish seeds.” They're these seeds from the beach in Costa Rica that are supposedly lucky. I have a bracelet that my mom got made for me in Costa Rica as well, that's each of the Olympic colors. I have a couple little notes, one from my boyfriend, a couple origami things from fans in Japan. There's a little good luck coin. Just a lot of random things. And, I always listen to “Amazing” by Kanye West.

What is going through your head right before you launch yourself down the mountain?

I give myself a little pep talk. "You got this, just ski your run. You're the best. Take it." And then usually, just as I'm pushing out on course, I think, "Deliver the love."

The Olympics take a lot of intense physical training, and I’m sure can be mentally exhausting as well. How do you deal with burnout in your sport?

When I had a bad comp day, I was crying to [my mom] and was just saying how it wasn't fun. And she was like, "You don't have to do it. If you don't want to do it, then don't compete tomorrow. But if you are going to, then just go out and have fun. Ski your runs, just go out and focus on Jaelin and that's all that matters. Just do it for yourself, . and the love of it."

Throughout all the hard moments over the years, and all of those hard moments, and burnout, and wanting to be done with the sport, I get back to that, and that's my reminder.

This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.