Freestyle skiing-America's Lemley takes moguls gold to deny Anthony repeat

LIVIGNO, Italy, Feb 11 : American freestyle skier Elizabeth Lemley won a surprise gold medal in moguls with two neat and quick runs in the Alpine town of Livigno at the Winter Games on Wednesday.

Her victory put an end to 2022 champion Jakara Anthony's bid to become the first Australian to successfully defend a title at a Winter Games.

Anthony, who has dominated the discipline for the last four years, led from silver medallist American Jaelin Kauf after the first run but wobbled out of line on her second to finish eighth and last.

Kauf, who also finished second in Beijing four years ago, won her second silver with a score of 80.77, and Pyeongchang 2018 champion France's Perrine Laffont clinched bronze with 78 points.

CONTROL AND STYLE

In her first run of the finals, under a bright and sunny afternoon sky in the narrow valley of Livigno, Lemley was in firm control of her skis, always pinned one to the other, and landed well after two big jumps.

In the second run - also known as the superfinal - the skier pushed on the speed, keeping her skis tight together and showing off great technique around the moguls and with a big grab on the bottom jump.

"I was trying to focus on trusting myself. I've been working on that this whole season... and right when I pushed out of the gate, I said to myself 'Let's go!'" Lemley told a press conference after the medal ceremony.

Like other athletes at the Winter Games, Lemley's medal fell apart as she was celebrating on the top of the podium just after she received it from Australian Olympic Committee President Ian Chesterman, who would have been hoping for a different outcome.

Anthony had a first fast, clean run for the finals, with smooth turns and a big grab on the bottom jump, but in the