Kuhn Gold, Dehlinger Silver at World Championships
The 2025 FIS Freestyle World Ski Championships came to a spectacular end with the individual aerials event, where Kaila Kuhn shocked the world, and herself to become the 2025 World Champion. Quinn Dehlinger followed it up with a silver medal, going back-to-back in the individual event. This comes just two days after their team event gold medal alongside Chris Lillis.
The event followed the Olympic format, including an extra qualification jump and extra finals jump. In the qualification round, athletes who finished in the top six in the first jump automatically qualified for finals. Five U.S. athletes achieved this feat, allowing them to sit out the second qualification jump to save energy for finals the next day. Dehlinger led the way for the men taking the top qualification spot with a beautifully executed double full full full - his signature jump. Chris Lillis and Connor Curran also advanced from the first round, finishing in fifth and sixth, respectively. On the women’s side, Dani Loeb led the U.S. qualifying in fourth followed by Kuhn in fifth.
Finals day brought the return of the sunshine in St. Moritz, along with off and on gusty winds that kept things interesting for the athletes. Many of the women struggled in finals on their first jump, including the U.S.. After jump one, Loeb sat in eighth and Kuhn in 10th. The women knew they would have to be on their A game to advance to the super finals. Kuhn went back to the top and threw a lay full full, and even with a slapback on the landing, was enough to earn her a spot in the super finals. Loeb finished 11th.
Dehlinger threw down one of the best jumps of his life in finals, scoring a huge 129.21, earning perfect air and landing scores. With his fantastic jump one, Dehlinger took his second jump as a mini victory lap, throwing a full full full, qualifying in first for the super finals. Lillis unfortunately was just bumped out of super finals, finishing seventh. Curran finished 10th overall.
The women’s super finals were full of surprises, including some of the best in the world not living up to expectations. Marion Thenault of Canada was the top qualifier with a sticky full full full but she was not able to execute in the super finals, finishing fifth. This opening was all Kuhn needed to know that she could do anything she set her mind to, including winning a gold medal. Kuhn was the third athlete to go in the super finals and threw a lay full full, a trick she has only landed in competition for the first time recently. Kuhn landed the jump and went into first place with a score of 105.13. The athletes left to go were the best of the best, but no matter what they did, they were unable to dethrone Kuhn, earning her first individual World Championships podium and win.
“This is the biggest surprise; I couldn’t be happier,” said Kuhn. “It has been kind of a rough season for me transitioning to triples, and this couldn’t be better icing on the cake. I trained that trick [lay full full] all summer, and I decided to put it down when it counted, so I’m super excited.”
As he was the top qualifier, Dehlinger was the last athlete of the day to drop. Right before him was Noe Roth, who as a Swiss athlete, was determined to put on a show for the home crowd. Roth threw a double full double full full and executed it perfectly, beating the all-time score record for that trick with a 143.31. Dehlinger dropped in ready to throw a double full full full. It was a jump that the U.S. will remember forever, as he secured his second individual World Championships silver medal. Every time Dehlinger has started at a World Championships, he has finished on the podium. Kuhn’s win and Dehlinger’s silver mark the best individual results for the U.S. since 2017, when Ashley Caldwell and Jonathan Lillis swept the wins in Sierra Nevada.
