CHARLOTTE, N.C. — What sort of person would rocket headfirst down the ice at 80 mph with no more protection than a helmet? Mystique Ro knows firsthand.
She knows what is likely going on in the minds of the three American skeleton competitors in the Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games: Katie Uhlaender, Kelly Curtis and Andrew Blaser.
“I thought it was insane," Charlotte-based athlete Mystique Ro said about her initial reaction to sledding. "Why would you do that? People are crazy!”
Ro is currently ranked 39th in the world by the International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation.
The competition consists of single athletes who get a running start, sliding headfirst down tracks of 1,000 to 1,700 meters. The Beijing 2022 Olympic track at Yanqing is one of the longest, measuring at 1,615 meters. Skeleton athletes reach top speeds of up to 81 mph. The sled is the skeletal foundation of a bobsled, which is how the sport was named.
Despite the sheer exposure and intense speed, Ro said sometimes the biggest thing a skeleton athlete has to conquer is the fear you have before doing your first slide. But over time, Ro shared "things start to slow down."
“It’s so much information processing so fast, you can’t really react," Ro shared. "There’s no time for fear. I’m driving, but I'm also letting it do what it needs to do. It’s a balance between control and chaos.”
Sports are an incredible commitment, and many athletes have to make sacrifices and put aspects of their lives on hold in order to achieve their dreams.
“As you get older and family becomes more important if I’m already going to miss it, let me make it worthwhile and get the experiences I need to chase the dream," Ro said.
For Ro, that dream is just beginning. Her goal is to continue training for the Milano Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games.
“As long as I’ve got it in my legs and in my mind that I enjoy it and am having fun, there’s plenty of room to grow as an athlete,” Ro said.
Ro graduated from Queens University of Charlotte in 2016, where she competed in hurdles on the track team. She was introduced to sliding sports in her last semester of college when a coach recommended her and a teammate for a training camp.
Ro described the state of flow as her favorite thing about the sport.
“It’s difficult to explain to someone who doesn’t understand it or has never felt it, but it’s when everything just feels right and everything lines up perfectly," Ro tried to spell out. "It’s a constant addiction to try to get that feeling back. You want to feel the flow state again and the natural flow of how sliding should be. You want to feel the speed.”
Skeleton competition for Team USA athletes Uhlaender, Curtis and Blaser is scheduled for Feb. 10-12.
Hannah Aspden of Raleigh, North Carolina, won two gold medals in swimming in the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games. Hannah is a student in the James L. Knight School of Communication at Queens University of Charlotte, which provides the news service in support of local community news.