LAKE PLACID, N.Y. — The United States celebrated a historic victory on Saturday night by winning the mixed skeleton world championship for the first time. In the prior four renditions of this event, the U.S. had never secured a spot on the podium.
The successful American team, comprised of Austin Florian and Mystique Ro, emerged victorious at Mount Van Hoevenberg with an impressive aggregate time of 1 minute, 54.53 seconds. Hot on their heels, the British duo of Matt Weston, the reigning world men’s champion, and Tabitha Stoecker clinched the silver with a time of 1:54.63. The Chinese team, featuring Dan Zhao and Qinwei Lin, completed the podium by taking the bronze in 1:54.81.
This triumph marked the United States’ fourth gold medal in the history of skeleton world championships. Previous U.S. victories include a men’s win by Jim Shea in 1999, along with women’s titles by Noelle Pikus-Pace in 2007 and Katie Uhlaender in 2012. Moreover, the U.S. has a storied Olympic history in skeleton racing, claiming gold on three occasions: Jennison Heaton at the inaugural men’s event in 1928, and both Shea and Tristan Gale triumphing in their respective categories at the 2002 Salt Lake City Games.
The mixed team skeleton event became part of the world championship lineup in 2020, with Germany previously dominating by winning every competition until now. However, the German streak ended this year as they failed to secure a medal on Saturday, having previously collected four golds, one silver, and one bronze in the prior iterations.
China made history alongside the U.S., earning their first medal in the mixed skeleton world championship. Meanwhile, Britain achieved its fourth podium finish in this event, capturing the silver for the third year in a row.
Saturday’s race was the season’s final prominent international skeleton event. The competition at Lake Placid continues with the women’s monobob and two-man bobsledding finals on Sunday, and will resume the following weekend with events in two-woman and four-man bobsledding.
