For the first time in Olympic history, a third skeleton event will make its debut when the mixed team competition begins at 12 p.m. ET on Sunday, Feb. 15.
| Date/Time | Event | Stream |
|---|---|---|
| Sun, 2/15 12-2:00p |
Mixed Team 🏅 | Peacock, NBCOlympics.com |
The event first debuted at the 2023 International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation (IBSF) World Championships and features one woman and one man from the same country on a team.
Per the Olympics website, a maximum of six nations can nominate two teams while eight additional nations will field one team. That totals 14 teams and 28 athletes setting a time on-track.
USA Bobsled & Skeleton confirmed on its website that the United States will have two teams in the event.
As of Saturday night, the entire entrant and start list has not yet been confirmed. The starting order is based on current IBSF rankings, with the lowest-scoring team starting first.
The racing rules
The race is just one heat, with the female and male athlete setting their times back-to-back. Unlike a relay, the second athlete does not start as soon as the first finishes.
Instead, they must wait until the track is clear, and then follow a reaction start: five flashing red lights will flash in 0.75-second intervals. After the fifth flash, the lights go out alongside an audible signal, and the timing begins. The start is very much akin to that of a Formula 1 race.
The contenders
The United States have a great medal chance in this event if Mystique Ro and Austin Florian pair up. Ro and Florian won the 2025 IBSF World Championship at the U.S. home track in Lake Placid, New York.
At that same event, 2026 Olympic Gold medalist Matt Weston paired up with Tabitha Stoecker, who finished 5th at Milan Cortina, to take silver.
Stoecker also raced with Marcus Wyatt, who finished 9th on Friday, in the world cup race at Cortina Sliding Centre in November 2025 and won gold. Milan Cortina medalists Axel Jungk and Jacqueline Pfeifer finished second in that event, and gold medalist Janine Flock finished third along with Samuel Maier.
Milan Cortina women's silver medalist Susanne Kreher and men's bronze medalist Christopher Grotheer won the 2023 world championship together.