The first day of competition kicked off on Friday, with Mystique Ro of Nokesville, Virginia, earning an impressive second-place finish in women’s skeleton with her two-run time of 1:45.99. Ro also set a new track start record.

“Training this week was a challenge with planning for the weather. So, I took a gamble for the race day — I had a setup that I had not used in training,” Ro said. “My goal was to push sub-five and fight to take down the track record. Unfortunately, I allowed some key corners to get away from me and that cost me during both runs. I am walking away from Lillehammer with a (personal best) downtime, (personal best) push time, start record and silver medal — pretty happy about that,”

“I am very proud of Mystique for her performance,” Head Skeleton coach Matt Antoine said. “She has clearly established herself as the best starter in the sport and we saw that on display today. Even though the runs may have left her wanting a bit more on the track, there is growth and improvement each week. Two medals for her this season so far and I feel there is still much more to come for her.”

Katie Uhlaender of Breckenridge, Colorado slid into an eighth-place finish with her combined time of 1:46.32 in the women’s skeleton event. Michelle Toukan of Central City, Nebraska, was 20th in 1:47.58, and Sara Roderick of Truro, Massachusetts, placed 25th in 1:47.88.

On the men’s side, Austin Florian of Southington, Connecticut, placed 15th with a time of 1:43.88, Dan Barefoot of Johnstown, Pennsylvania, placed 20th with a time of 1:44.23 and Hunter Williams of Carnegie, Pennsylvania placed 29th with a one-run time of 52.37.

The second day of competition, on Saturday, Kaysha Love of Herriman, Utah slid into a first-place finish in the women’s monobob with her combined run time of 1:48.52, setting a new track record in the process.

“I am incredibly grateful for my support system of teammates, coaches and family that have helped me through this season,” Love said. “It is challenging learning a new track each week but it is also been a massive blessing getting the opportunity to compete alongside these incredible athletes.”

Elana Meyers Taylor of Douglasville, Georgia placed 10th with a time of 1:49.55 in women’s monobob and in the two-man bobsled event, Frank Del Duca of Bethel, Maine, and Manteo Mitchell of Shelby, North Carolina placed fifth with a two-run time of 1:41.77.

On the final day of the Lillehammer World Cup, Love again slid into a podium finish in the two-woman event and also earned a track record, this time in the form of a bronze medal with teammate Azaria Hill of Canyon Country, California after a combined run time of 1:43.85.

“Getting a top-three finish and start record with Kaysha is such a great feeling,” Hill said. “Kaysha is an amazing pilot, she not only speaks life into you but confidence as well! I have complete belief in her and everything she brings to the table as a pilot. Being behind her as her brake woman is such a privilege, her mindset and work ethic is a rarity and contagious. That is something I take immense pride in is our work ethic. We work hard together, we train hard together, we push hard together, and most of all we have fun together.”

“I am extremely proud of Azaria for stepping up during this World Cup race,” Love said. “All her hard work is paying off, and in her rookie season, she will walk away with a well-deserved start record.”

Meyers Taylor and Emily Renna of Fairport placed sixth in the event with their combined two-run time of 1:44.36. In four-man bobsled, Del Duca, alongside Mitchell, Hakeem Abdul-Saboor of Powhatan, Virginia and Adrian Adams of Reidsville, North Carolina placed 13th with a time of 1:40.96.

Outside of the World Cup division, USABS has been seeing some memorable performances as well.

In the youth sector of competition, Team USA had the opportunity to compete in both bobsled and skeleton in the Youth Olympic Games in Gangwon, South Korea.

Emily Bradley of Sacramento, California placed eighth in girls monobob on Jan. 22 with a time of 1:55.43. Biancha Emery of Bend, Oregon placed 16th in girls skeleton in 1:57.06.

On Jan. 23, in boys monobob, John Lansing of Lake Placid placed ninth with his time of 1:51.22, and Liam McKenna of Lunenburg, Massachusetts, placed 18th with his time of 1:53.54.

In boys skeleton, identical twins from Salt Lake City, Utah, Noah Park (1:51.67) and Baden Park (1:53.43), placed 14th and 18th, respectively. Noah Park also had the honor of being a flagbearer in the YOG opening ceremonies.

Last weekend in St. Moritz, Switzerland, Team USA participated in the Europe Cup races. The competition kicked off on Jan. 18 with Kris Horn of Pembroke, Massachusetts and Jace Johnson of Bessemer, Alabama placing ninth in two-man bobsled in 2:17.27 and Geoff Gabois of Milton, Vermont, alongside Bryce Cheek of Lewis Center, Ohio placing 12th in 2:17.59.

Also on Jan. 18, Lauren Brzozowski of Wyckoff, New Jersey placed fourth in women’s monobob with her time of 2:27.41, followed by Sylvia Hoffman of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 10th at 2:28.81 and Riley Tejcek of Carmel, Indiana in 11th at 2:29.11.

EC competitions continued the following day with four-man and two-woman bobsled. In four-man, Gadois, Cheek, Chase Blueberg of Carson City, Nevada and Collin Storms of of Lewisville, Texas placed 10th with a time of 2:14.55 while Horn, Johnson, David Simon of Merritt Island, Florida and Darius Joseph of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma placed 14th in 2:15.49.

In two-woman, Brzozowski, alongside teammate Jestena Mattson of Parkdale, Oregon, placed sixth in 2:20.33. Tejcek and Macy Tarlton of Woodstock, Georgia placed 13th in 2:22.89.

The IBSF World Cup will continue in Sigulda, Latvia on Feb. 2.