Currently, three of the most notable skiers from Jackson Hole, Wyoming are Jaelin Kauf, Breezy Johnson, and Resi Stiegler due to the fact that all three are currently in PyeongChang, South Korea competing in the Winter Olympics.
If you’re from Wyoming odds are you’ve been to Jackson Hole, or at least heard of it. Right on the edge of two of our nation’s National Parks, Grand Teton and Yellowstone, Jackson is home to multiple winter sporting areas.
Of the three Olympians, Resi Stiegler is certainly the most decorated. Competing in her first Olympics at age 17 in Turin, Italy, Stiegler is coming into these Olympics a seasoned veteran. These are the third Olympics Stiegler has competed in, according to teamusa.org. Stiegler’s best finish at the Olympics in 2006 in Turin, where she placed 11th in the women’s combined. According to teamusa.org, Stiegler has had a rough go of it at these Olympics; placing 35th in giant slalom and not finishing her run in slalom. Stiegler will continue competing in the World Cup following the Olympics.
“Resi was the first person from Jackson I remember watching compete in the Olympics,” Karli Swenson, a senior here at UW, said. “At the time, I didn’t really register how incredible it was that someone from my hometown was competing at the Olympics.”
Unlike Olympic veteran Stiegler, her fellow athletes from Jackson, Breezy Johnson, 22, and Jaelin Kauf, 21, are making their first Olympic appearance.
According to teamusa.org Johnson competed in the women’s super-g, where she placed 14th in the 2018 Winter Olympics.
Wyoming’s highest potential for a medal, however, is freestyle-mogul skier Jaelin Kauf. Kauf finished seventh last year in the World Cup and currently sits at No. 1. After her first run at the 2018 Winter Olympics Kauf sat in second place and was feeling hopeful for the next two. But, how mogul skiing is set up athletes are eliminated during the first two runs, leaving only six competitors for the final run and a shot at the gold.
Unfortunately, Kauf had some troubles in her second run and placed seventh, one spot shy of going to the finals. While this was a very big upset for her inaugural Olympics, Kauf is still ranked No. 1 in the World Cup.
“As kids we all thought Jaelin could go far in skiing, especially because her parents were such successful skiers,” Hailey Wilkinson, a sophomore at the University of Wyoming, said. “But it wasn’t until I saw her competing on national television that I realized that she had made it as a professional skier. I think that was a really prideful moment for anyone from Jackson.”
Even though the Olympics did not play out perfectly for these three athletes, being the only competitors from Wyoming is remarkable in itself. All three will continue competing on the World Cup circuit with the next World Cup event taking place in Kranjska Gora, Slovenia on March 3.
