Ro leads USA Skeleton with sixth place finish in Koenigssee’s European Cup

KOENIGSSEE, Germany (Dec. 15, 2019)– Mystique Ro (Nokesville, Va.) finished sixth in the women’s skeleton European Cup race in Koenigssee today as the top U.S. finisher. It was Ro’s career-best European Cup finish, besting her former personal record by three places.

“This has been a trip with a lot of new information flooding in every week,” said Ro, who’s never raced on the European tracks before this season. “It’s been challenging, but fun. Koenigssee has definitely been a track that has tested my confidence. I had some rough training runs, so I watched sleds for six-plus hours a day throughout the week. It was nice to see things click at the end of the trip and to end with a solid personal record.”

Ro has a huge advantage at the start, and she gave herself the lead right off the block today with push times of 5.08 and 5.04 seconds. Both runs of 53.86 and 53.31 seconds were sixth best of each heat. Mystique’s total time of 1:47.17 placed her in sixth.

The European Cup took place in conjunction with the Intercontinental Cup, and Ro said she enjoyed having teammates with her who were also learning the foreign tracks for the first time.

“I’m glad I had the support and encouragement of my teammates as a majority were sliding here for the first time and having similar issues,” Ro said. “Matt (Antoine) has been great at keeping us focused and very encouraged throughout training.”

Ro was ninth yesterday with a combined time of 1:49.11. She clocked starts of 5.13 and 5.06 for runs of 54.96 and 54.15 seconds, respectively.

Kristen Hurley (Columbia, Conn.) just missed yesterday’s top-20 cutoff for the second heat with a run of 56.98 seconds, which placed her in 21st. She moved up four spots today to 17th with a total time of 1:50.43 after clocking runs of 55.67 and 54.76.

British competitor Amelia Coltman claimed gold yesterday in 1:46.21. Germans Josefa Schellmoser and Hanna Staub earned silver and bronze with total times of 1:46.83 and 1:47.42, respectively. Endija Terauda from Latvia was today’s winner in 1:45.78. Luisa Hornung from Germany claimed silver in 1:45.94, while Coltman secured bronze in 1:46.46.

Austin McCrary (Colleyville, Texas) was the sole men’s competitor in Koenigssee. He finished 10th yesterday with a combined time of 1:44.78 and 12th today in 1:43.85. McCrary’s best push time over the two days was 4.99 yesterday, and he posted the sixth-best time of yesterday’s second heat to show his potential on the German track.

Please direct media inquiries to the USABS Marketing and Communications Director Amanda Bird at amanda.bird@usabs.com.

Results

Women’s skeleton race #1
1. Amelia Coltman (GBR) 1:46.21 (53.39, 52.82);
2. Josefa Schellmoser (GER) 1:46.83 (53.47, 53.36);
3. Hanna Staub (GER) 1:47.42 (53.85, 53.57);
9. Mystique Ro (USA) 1:49.11 (54.96, 54.15);
21. Kristen Hurley (USA) (56.98, DNS);

Women’s skeleton race #2
1. Endija Terauda (LAT) 1:45.78 (52.93, 52.85);
2. Luisa Hornung (GER) 1:45.94 (53.27, 52.67);
3. Amelia Coltman (GBR) 1:46.46 (53.46, 53.00);
6. Mystique Ro (USA) 1:47.17 (53.86, 53.31);
17. Kristen Hurley (USA) 1:50.43 (55.67, 54.76);

Men’s skeleton race #1
1. Felix Seibel (GER) 1:43.37 (51.77, 51.60);
2. Lukas David Nydegger (GER) 1:43.45 (51.74, 51.71);
3. Krists Netlaus (LAT) 1:43.71 (51.66, 52.05);
10. Austin McCrary (USA) 1:44.78 (52.68, 52.10);

Men’s skeleton race #2

1. Amedeo Bagnis (ITA) 1:42.35 (50.97, 51.38);
2. Cedric Renner (GER) 1:42.48 (51.35, 51.13);
3. Krists Netlaus (LAT) 1:42.50 (51.44, 51.06);
12. Austin McCrary (USA) 1:43.85 (52.02, 51.83);

About USA Bobsled & Skeleton
USA Bobsled & Skeleton (USABS), based in Lake Placid, N.Y., is the national governing body for the sports of bobsled and skeleton in the United States. USABS would like to thank its sponsors, suppliers and contributors for their support: BMW of North America, Under Armour, Kampgrounds of America, BiPro, Boomerang Carnets, Hudl, Tesa Tape, PVS International, Machintek, deBotech and Carpenter. For more information, please visit the USABS website at www.usabs.com.