The 2026 Winter Olympics in Milano Cortina just wrapped up one of the best freestyle skiing programs in recent memory. Held at the Livigno Snow Park and the Livigno Aerials and Moguls Park in Valtellina, Italy, a total of 15 freestyle skiing events took place between February 7 and 21, 2026. From legends completing their medal collections to home nation heroes making history on Italian snow, here is your full breakdown of every event and winner.
What Was New at the 2026 Winter Olympics Freestyle Skiing?
The biggest change at these Games was the addition of dual moguls as a brand new Olympic discipline. In dual moguls, two athletes race each other down the same bumpy course at the same time, bringing a head-to-head element that fans immediately loved. This brought the total freestyle skiing program to 15 events for the first time in Olympic history, up from 13 events at Beijing 2022.
Men’s Slopestyle: Birk Ruud Wins Gold for Norway
Norway’s Birk Ruud won the men’s slopestyle event, picking up his second Olympic gold after winning big air at Beijing 2022. He came out strong in the final with a score that held up through the entire competition. Defending champion Alex Hall of the United States won silver, and Luca Harrington of New Zealand took bronze, his first ever Olympic medal.
With two World Championship titles already in the bag (2023 and 2025), Ruud confirmed he is the most dominant slopestyle skier on the planet right now.
Men’s Big Air: Norway Makes It a Double
Norway doubled up in the slopestyle and big air events as Tormod Frostad took gold in men’s big air. Mac Forehand of the United States won silver and Matej Svancer of Austria claimed bronze. All three athletes were first-time Olympic medalists, making this one of the freshest podiums of the Games.
Women’s Slopestyle: Mathilde Gremaud Edges Out Eileen Gu
Switzerland’s Mathilde Gremaud beat Eileen Gu to the gold medal in women’s slopestyle, a rematch of their meeting at Beijing 2022 where Gremaud also came out on top. The two are arguably the defining rivalry in women’s freestyle skiing right now, and their Livigno battle lived up to that billing.
Women’s Big Air: Megan Oldham Wins for Canada
Canada’s Megan Oldham took gold in women’s big air, with Eileen Gu claiming silver. Gu’s final run was impressive, scoring 89.00 points with a flawless left side double cork 1260, but it was not enough to catch Oldham’s total. It was Gu’s first competition in big air since she won Olympic gold in the same event at Beijing 2022.
Men’s Aerials: China Wins in a Photo Finish
China’s Wang Xindi delivered one of the closest victories of the Games in men’s aerials. He landed a double full-double full-full for a score of 132.60, beating reigning world champion Noe Roth of Switzerland by just 1.02 points. Li Tianma of China took bronze, giving China a first and third place finish in the event.
Women’s Aerials: Xu Mengtao Defends Her Crown
China’s Xu Mengtao successfully defended her aerials title from Beijing 2022, adding yet another gold to a career that already includes multiple Olympic medals. China was the clear powerhouse in the aerials events across both the men’s and women’s competitions.
Mixed Team Aerials: USA Takes Gold
The USA team of Kaila Kuhn, Connor Curran and Christopher Lillis won the mixed team aerials final with a combined score of 325.35. Switzerland took silver and China claimed bronze. The victory was Team USA’s record-breaking 11th gold medal at these Games.
Men’s Halfpipe: Alex Ferreira Completes a Legendary Trilogy
This was the most emotional story of the entire program. Alex Ferreira of the United States had won silver at PyeongChang 2018 and bronze at Beijing 2022. In Livigno, the 31-year-old finally got his gold, scoring 93.75 on his third and final run to win the event. Estonia’s Henry Sildaru finished second with 93.00, and Canada’s Brendan Mackay claimed bronze with 91.00.
Collecting silver, bronze and then gold across three consecutive Winter Olympics is one of the rarest achievements in any sport. Ferreira did it in the most dramatic way possible, sealing it on his last run of the competition.
Women’s Halfpipe: Final Happening Now
The women’s halfpipe final is taking place today, February 22, on the final day of the Games. Eileen Gu is chasing her first gold medal of these Games after winning silver in both slopestyle and big air. A podium finish would make her the most decorated freestyle skier in Olympic history, breaking her current tie with Canada’s Mikael Kingsbury. Reigning world champion Zoe Atkin of Great Britain led qualification and enters as the favourite.
Women’s Ski Cross: Germany Makes History
Germany’s Daniela Maier led from the front in the women’s ski cross Big Final to win gold, becoming the first German athlete to ever win a freestyle skiing gold medal at the Winter Olympics. Switzerland’s Fanny Smith won silver and Sweden’s defending champion Sandra Naslund finished third.
Men’s Ski Cross: Italy Celebrates a Historic First
The loudest moment of these Games came when Italy’s Simone Deromedis crossed the line first in men’s ski cross, right in front of a packed home crowd. His win was Italy’s first ever gold medal in freestyle skiing. Making the moment even better, teammate Federico Tomasoni won silver, giving Italy a one-two finish on home snow. Switzerland’s Alex Fiva won bronze at the age of 40, making him the oldest freestyle skiing medalist in Olympic history.
The Eileen Gu Story at Milano Cortina 2026
No athlete drew more attention at these Games than Eileen Gu. She went into Livigno as the defending champion in big air and halfpipe and left with two silvers before today’s halfpipe final. She fell on her first qualification run in halfpipe but recovered with a second run worth 86.50 points to advance to the final in fifth place. That kind of composure under pressure is why she remains one of the most watched athletes in the sport. Whatever happens today, her performances across these Games have been outstanding.
Final Thoughts
Fifteen events. Nations winning their first ever freestyle skiing medals. A 40-year-old becoming the oldest medalist in the discipline. A 31-year-old completing a three-Games medal collection with a gold. An Italian winning on home snow in a sport his country had never conquered before. The 2026 Winter Olympics freestyle skiing program was worth every minute of airtime it got.
