Ashley Caldwell, An Aerial Skier From Ashburn, Wins First Gold At Winter Olympics

ASHBURN, VA — Ashley Caldwell, an aerial skier from Ashburn, won gold at the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics. Caldwell's first medal came as she represented Team USA in the mixed team aerials event in freestyle skiing.

Caldwell won gold alongside her teammates Christopher Lillis and Justin Schoenefeld. Their victory gave the U.S. its first medal in the aerial discipline since 2010, according to the Associated Press.

Host country China won silver in the event while Canada earned the bronze.

The mixed aerial event made its debut at this year's Olympics. Each competing country fielded a team of three ski jumpers, with at least one woman on each team.

One of Lilli's tricks in the event, a back double full-full-double full, earned the highest score of any trick in the event.

Caldwell is competing in her fourth Olympics this year. Previously, she had never finished higher than 10th in an Olympic event. Caldwell earned Olympic gold alongside Schoenefeld, whom she's been dating for about 3 years, according to the Associated Press.

"It is a dream come true,” Caldwell told the Today show after the U.S. victory. “I’ve been at this for a long time, and I’ve been on the hunt for gold for my entire career. To do it next to Justin and Chris was incredible."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.