US wins gold in mixed skeleton race at world championships, with Britain 2nd and China 3rd

LAKE PLACID, N.Y. (AP) — The U.S. won the mixed skeleton world championship for the first time Saturday night, after not even medaling in the first four editions of the event.

The team of Austin Florian and Mystique Ro won at Mount Van Hoevenberg with a combined time of 1 minute, 54.53 seconds.

Britain won the silver with the team of world men’s champion Matt Weston and Tabitha Stoecker finishing in 1:54.63. China got the bronze, with Dan Zhao and Qinwei Lin finishing in 1:54.81.

It was the fourth gold medal overall for the U.S. at a skeleton world championship, joining the men’s victory by Jim Shea in 1999 and women’s wins by Noelle Pikus-Pace in 2007 and Katie Uhlaender in 2012.

The U.S. has also won Olympic gold in skeleton three times, with Jennison Heaton taking the inaugural men’s event in 1928, then Shea winning the men’s race and Tristan Gale the women’s title at Salt Lake City in 2002.

The mixed team skeleton event was added to the program at the world championships in 2020 and Germany had won the competition every time before this year. But the Germans were shut out on Saturday night, after winning four golds, one silver and one bronze in the first four mixed races at worlds.

China joined the U.S. as first-time medal winners at Saturday’s mixed skeleton worlds race. Britain medaled for the fourth time, taking the silver in the event for the third consecutive season.

It was the final major race of the international skeleton season. The bobsled and skeleton world championships in Lake Placid continue Sunday with the final runs of women’s monobob and two-man bobsledding, then resume there next weekend with two-woman and four-man competitions.

___

AP Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/winter-oly