Austria’s Janine Flock wins World Cup skeleton race, USA’s Mystique Ro finishes second

By Canadian Press on January 2, 2026.

WINTERBERG, Germany (AP) — Austria’s Janine Flock won a World Cup women’s skeleton race on Friday, while Mystique Ro of the U.S. got her best finish of the season.

Ro was leading after the first of two runs, but Flock overtook her in the second heat and finished with a combined time of 2 minutes, 0.22 seconds.

Ro was second in 2:00.60, and Anna Fernstaedt of Czechia was third in 2:00.83.

“Today was just let it run, let it fly and shake off the first four races of the season,” Ro said. “A great start to the Olympic year.”

Ro finished 26th, 7th, 15th and 25th in the first four World Cup events this season.

Also Friday, Kendall Wesenberg was 10th and Kelly Curtis was 11th for the U.S. — which will announce its Olympic teams later this month.

Weather issues caused the International Bobsled and Skeleton Federation to cancel two other races planned for Friday — a men’s skeleton race and a mixed skeleton event.

The men’s skeleton race was rescheduled for Wednesday in St. Moritz, Switzerland, which is next weekend’s planned World Cup stop. There will be men’s, women’s and mixed races there as planned on Jan. 9 as well.

Up next

Bobsled: World Cup monobob and two-man races on Saturday at Winterberg.

Luge: World Cup men’s singles, women’s singles, men’s doubles, women’s doubles on Saturday at Sigulda, Latvia.

Skeleton: World Cup men’s race on Wednesday at St. Moritz, Switzerland.

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AP Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics

The Associated Press