Steamboat Olympian: Jaelin Kauf
01/26/2026 10:44AM ● By Sophie Dingle
Photo courtesy of Jaelin Kauf.
As Jaelin Kauf heads into her third Olympics, she’s taking lessons from her first two with her. Mainly, she says, that’s channeling the love she gets from friends, family and fans into her skiing. It’s worked for her in the past: in 2022, she won a silver medal in Beijing. The mogul skier, who skied with Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club for six years, is excited for even more medal opportunities as dual moguls is added to the lineup for the first time. “It’s super exciting,” she says. “It will be really cool to compete in the debut of that.” Jaelin also shared with us her career highlights, the lessons she learned from two Olympics and how she lives by her motto, ‘deliver the love.’
Steamboat Magazine: You’ve had a huge career so far – how do you keep the momentum going?
Jaelin Kauf: I love the sport and I love what I do and that’s definitely the biggest drive for me. There’s always room to get better and keep building on what I have, so I just keep trying to progress and push myself and the sport every year.
SM: What has been your career highlight so far?
JK: The 2022 Olympics; getting a silver medal there was amazing. I definitely had a pretty tough season leading up to the Games and there was a lot going on with Covid during that time. I had to be all alone heading into the Games; I couldn’t be around family. There was a lot of team and free-style drama leading into the Olympics as well, which made me question if I should even be on that team. And then I just had so much fun and was able to put everything aside and ski.
SM: You have two Olympics under your belt – what were some lessons you learned in the first two and what do you hope to take with you going into a third Olympics?
JK: From the first to the second, there was such a big difference. I grew a lot and learned so much more about how to handle and acknowledge all the pressures and excitements of the Olympics. In 2018, I felt like I had the weight of the world on my shoulders going into the Olympics and I really didn’t know how to handle that pressure. Most of it was internal pressure that I was putting on myself more than anything. I really learned that all those people cheering for me at the bottom of the course or at home were just wanting the very best for me and they were so stoked to be a part of it. They weren’t disappointed if I didn’t medal or didn’t do well. They were so supportive of me no matter what. That was the biggest thing that I took with me going into 2022 – was knowing that and taking all that love and support and channeling it into me skiing how I wanted to ski. I was able to do what I was there to do instead of letting it bring me down with pressure. After 2022, it’s exciting to have fans back at the Olympics. Having a bunch of friends and family at the bottom of the course will be really special. I’m keeping that same thought and feeling of letting that love channel through me into my skiing instead of bringing me down in any way.
SM: Tell us about your motto, ‘Deliver the Love.’
JK: I came up with that motto with the help of a friend after the 2018 Olympics. I was figuring out why I do what I do and that daily reminder for me, whether in life or at the top of the hill, is why I’ve always skied. Obviously I have big goals that I hope to accomplish in my career as well, but the driving force behind it all is the love for being out there and the love for what I do.
SM: You’re an advocate for women and girls in your sport – why is that work important to you? Was there someone advocating for you along the way?
JK: My mom was always a huge role model to me. She showed me that I could do anything that I wanted to do – sports or anything else. Being a girl or woman had nothing to do with any lines or boundaries that were defined for me. I watched her break boundaries through my childhood, which was amazing. Even though I grew up on very male-dominated teams for the most part, I still had so many amazing female role models in my life. I’ve been able to be involved with the Women’s Sports Foundation over the course of my career, which I’ve loved to be a part of and support in any way I can. Being in sports has given me so much in my life and it has so many benefits. You see girls drop out of sports earlier than guys do and there’s so many benefits that sports have for us. So if I can be a role model and encourage girls to stay in sport and find whatever sport it is that they love to do, I’m stoked to be a part of that.
As Jaelin Kauf heads into her third Olympics, she’s taking lessons from her first two with her. Mainly, she says, that’s channeling the love she gets from friends, family and fans into her skiing. It’s worked for her in the past: in 2022, she won a silver medal in Beijing. The mogul skier, who skied with Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club for six years, is excited for even more medal opportunities as dual moguls is added to the lineup for the first time. “It’s super exciting,” she says. “It will be really cool to compete in the debut of that.” Jaelin also shared with us her career highlights, the lessons she learned from two Olympics and how she lives by her motto, ‘deliver the love.’
Steamboat Magazine: You’ve had a huge career so far – how do you keep the momentum going?
Jaelin Kauf: I love the sport and I love what I do and that’s definitely the biggest drive for me. There’s always room to get better and keep building on what I have, so I just keep trying to progress and push myself and the sport every year.
SM: What has been your career highlight so far?
JK: The 2022 Olympics; getting a silver medal there was amazing. I definitely had a pretty tough season leading up to the Games and there was a lot going on with Covid during that time. I had to be all alone heading into the Games; I couldn’t be around family. There was a lot of team and free-style drama leading into the Olympics as well, which made me question if I should even be on that team. And then I just had so much fun and was able to put everything aside and ski.
SM: You have two Olympics under your belt – what were some lessons you learned in the first two and what do you hope to take with you going into a third Olympics?
JK: From the first to the second, there was such a big difference. I grew a lot and learned so much more about how to handle and acknowledge all the pressures and excitements of the Olympics. In 2018, I felt like I had the weight of the world on my shoulders going into the Olympics and I really didn’t know how to handle that pressure. Most of it was internal pressure that I was putting on myself more than anything. I really learned that all those people cheering for me at the bottom of the course or at home were just wanting the very best for me and they were so stoked to be a part of it. They weren’t disappointed if I didn’t medal or didn’t do well. They were so supportive of me no matter what. That was the biggest thing that I took with me going into 2022 – was knowing that and taking all that love and support and channeling it into me skiing how I wanted to ski. I was able to do what I was there to do instead of letting it bring me down with pressure. After 2022, it’s exciting to have fans back at the Olympics. Having a bunch of friends and family at the bottom of the course will be really special. I’m keeping that same thought and feeling of letting that love channel through me into my skiing instead of bringing me down in any way.
SM: Tell us about your motto, ‘Deliver the Love.’
JK: I came up with that motto with the help of a friend after the 2018 Olympics. I was figuring out why I do what I do and that daily reminder for me, whether in life or at the top of the hill, is why I’ve always skied. Obviously I have big goals that I hope to accomplish in my career as well, but the driving force behind it all is the love for being out there and the love for what I do.
SM: You’re an advocate for women and girls in your sport – why is that work important to you? Was there someone advocating for you along the way?
JK: My mom was always a huge role model to me. She showed me that I could do anything that I wanted to do – sports or anything else. Being a girl or woman had nothing to do with any lines or boundaries that were defined for me. I watched her break boundaries through my childhood, which was amazing. Even though I grew up on very male-dominated teams for the most part, I still had so many amazing female role models in my life. I’ve been able to be involved with the Women’s Sports Foundation over the course of my career, which I’ve loved to be a part of and support in any way I can. Being in sports has given me so much in my life and it has so many benefits. You see girls drop out of sports earlier than guys do and there’s so many benefits that sports have for us. So if I can be a role model and encourage girls to stay in sport and find whatever sport it is that they love to do, I’m stoked to be a part of that.