USA's Justin Schoenefeld (C), USA's Ashley Caldwell (R) and USA's Christopher Lillis wait for their score in the freestyle skiing mixed team aerials final during the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games at the Genting Snow Park A & M Stadium in Zhangjiakou on February 10, 2022. (Photo by Marco BERTORELLO / AFP) (Photo by MARCO BERTORELLO/AFP via Getty Images)MARCO BERTORELLO/AFP via Getty Images

Olympic Freestyle Skiing 2022 Results: USA Wins Gold Medal in Mixed Team Aerials

Joseph ZuckerFeb 10, 2022

The United States edged out China to win the inaugural mixed team aerials in freestyle skiing at the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing on Thursday.

Ashley Caldwell, Christopher Lillis and Justin Schoenefeld combined to post a score of 338.34 in the second final, catapulting them ahead of the Chinese trio of Xu Mengtao, Jia Zongyang and Qi Guangpu.

Canada rounded out the podium.

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Mixed Team Aerials Results

Gold: United States

Silver: China

Bronze: Canada

China made a strong opening statement with an overall score of 336.89 to qualify for the final. That was more than six points better than Team USA.

The United States was also looking up at China on the leaderboard following the first round of jumps. Caldwell's back full full full jump was only good enough to earn a score of 88.86, well below the 106.03 points Xu earned for the same jump.

Lillis was next up for the U.S., and he delivered a commanding performance with his back double full full double full. He added 135 points to his team's collection, which turned the tables on China.

That put the onus on Schoenefeld to seal the deal. His back double full full full netted 114.48 points, which was good enough to secure gold.

Aerial freestyle skiing hasn't been fertile ground for Team USA of late. The 1998 Winter Olympics were the last time an American skier won gold, with Eric Bergoust and Nikki Stone making it a men's and women's double.

Caldwell, Schoenefeld and Lillis have now stamped their place into Olympics history.

Team USA has four gold medals in Beijing, the second-highest tally for this year's Winter Games. The country's 10 medals are also two behind those of Norway, Austria and Canada for the overall lead.