Princeton native Kelly Curtis has been nominated to represent the United States at the 2022 Olympic Winter Games in Beijing, China as a member of the women’s skeleton racing team.

The U.S. earned two quota spots in the women’s competition and one for the men. The nomination was announced Saturday. All U.S. Olympic team selections are subject to approval by the United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee.

Athletes earned their spot on the Olympic team by accumulating points throughout the season in international competitions. The lowest finish for each athlete was dropped, and points from the remaining seven races were added together for a total. The top two ranked U.S. women in International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation standings, Katie Uhlaender and Curtis, earned their ticket to Beijing, and Andrew Blaser earned his spot as the top-ranked American man.

“USABS is incredibly proud of the three athletes nominated to represent Team USA in skeleton at the 2022 Olympics,” said Aron McGuire, Chief Executive Officer of USABS. “It was a battle to make the team and came down to the very last race.”

This is the first Olympic nomination for Curtis. It came down to the very last run of the season for Curtis to earn her spot. The member of the Air Force’s World Class Athlete Program competed in her first tour of the World Cup circuit this season, and earned her spot by 12 points over the third-ranked U.S. women’s athlete.

Skeleton was added to the Olympic program for the 2002 Salt Lake City Games and the U.S. has claimed five medals since. Three of those medals were claimed in 2002, and the other two were earned in 2014.

Curtis attended Princeton High School and the Lawrenceville School. She earned her bachelor’s degree from Springfield College, where her strength and conditioning coach introduced her to the sport of bobsled. The winner of the 2011 Penn Relays Heptathlon, Curtis participated in various sports from an early age, wrestling in second and third grade.

Krystal Knapp

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Krystal Knapp is the founding editor of Planet Princeton. Follow her on Twitter @krystalknapp. She can be reached via email at editor AT planetprinceton.com. Send all letters to the editor and press releases to that email address.