The United States Bobsled & Skeleton team has an exciting young talent in Mystique Ro. The 29-year-old from Nokesville, Virginia earned a career-high eight gold-medal finishes in her 2022-2023 season and ended the year with her highest-ever international ranking.
Ro, who posts video updates of her skeleton training on GMTM, picked up the winter sport after being introduced to it by teammates and coaches on her college track team. An accomplished pentathlete from Queen’s University in Charlotte, Ro is one of the many athletes who have found success in bobsled and skeleton following a successful career in another sport.
Less than eight years after making her first skeleton run, Ro has now competed in over 100 international competitions and just finished a career-best season - highlighted by wins at an ICC and North American Cup events.
Split-second finish secures Gold Medal at International Cup at Igls
In mid-February, USA Bobsled & Skeleton team members showed up to Innsbruck, Austria for the annual Intercontinental Cup. One member had a career day on the historic sliding track at Igls, and the moment was defined by a split-second difference.
Ro beat the next fastest competitor - Great Britain’s Amelia Coltman - by just .01 seconds. The thin margin of victory was just enough to earn Ro her second ICC win in the 2022-2023 season and her sixth gold medal finish in her season.
Following her victory at Igls, Ro would finish ranked 6th in the International Cup rankings despite missing two races.
Back-to-back first-place finishes in North American Cup at Lake Placid
But the momentum did not stop there for the former collegiate track and field athlete. Ro would go on to win her final race of the year at the North American Cup in March.
During the last weekend of March, Ro would win on back-to-back days, topping Great Britain’s Amelia Coltman and 22-year-old phenom Freya Tarbit. Ro would finish the season ranked ninth in the North American Cup rankings.
Highest postseason international ranking of Ro’s career
While she ran fewer races than most other skeleton athletes in the IBSF World Rankings, Ro finished the season ranked 22nd in the world. That would be Ro’s highest end-of-season IBSF ranking in her career:
- 2022 - 2023 IBSF Ranking - #22
- 2021 - 2022 IBSF Ranking - #39
- 2020 - 2021 had no rankings due to COVID - 19
- 2019 - 2020 IBSF Ranking - #49
- 2018 - 2019 IBSF Ranking - #64
- 2017 - 2018 IBSF Ranking - #85
If the trend continues, next season could be another career year for Ro and put her on track to achieve her major goal in the sport of skeleton - to qualify for the Olympics in 2026.
Tiffany Allen is a Digital Marketing Manager at GMTM, who works with teams from all Olympic sports. Although she lives where snow rarely falls, she is a huge fan of winter sports and is dedicated to improving access to them for more athletes.
