Aviano-based airman nets two Top-15 finishes at Olympics

Winter Olympian and World Class Athlete Program's Staff Sgt. Kelly Curtis. Curtis is part of Department of the Air Force WCAP, which is managed by the Air Force Services Center. The program allows elite Airmen athletes to train and compete in national and international sports competitions with the ultimate goal of qualifying for the Olympic Games. (Courtesy photo by Viesturs Lacis) (Viesturs Lacis/DVIDS)

Air Force Staff Sgt. Kelly Curtis anticipated receiving more instruction prior to her first try at the sport of skeleton.

While at bobsled driving school in 2013, the former heptathlete at Springfield College in Massachusetts became aware of the sport, in which athletes can reach speeds up to 90 mph while their heads are only inches from the ice.

Curtis watched a few videos online and was intrigued.

Following a brief introduction from the coaches, though, she was pushed down the hill.

“At the bottom, you’re just checking to make sure everything’s still there, and then you’re like, ‘All right, how can I go again faster?’” she said.

“Your very first run, you figure out a lot about yourself and pretty much know right away it’s something you want to pursue or not.”

That run sparked a pursuit that has lasted more than a dozen years and has seen her make history as the first Black athlete to represent Team USA in skeleton at the Olympics in 2022.

Curtis came back for more at the 2026 Milano Cortina Games, where the 37-year-old competed Friday through Sunday in the women’s skeleton and mixed team relay at the Cortina Sliding Centre.

She finished in 12th place and was the highest-placed American in the women’s skeleton with a time of 3:52.13. In the skeleton mixed team competition, Curtis and Daniel Barefoot placed 10th with a time of 2:01.43.

Getting hooked onto skeleton also led to her enlisting into the Air Force in August 2020, when Curtis joined the service’s World Class Athlete Program.

“To have the privilege of wearing the red, white and blue to represent not only my country but the Air Force, my family, my community, it meant so much,” Curtis said. “It’s such a great privilege to be able to earn that uniform.”

Wearing that Air Force uniform has had an unexpected perk for Curtis in her other uniform.

While many bobsled and skeleton athletes are centered around Lake Placid, N.Y.; Park City, Utah; and Colorado Springs, Colo., Curtis requested to PCS to Aviano Air Base in northern Italy. The base sits about 87 miles southeast of Cortina, Italy.

Curtis chose Aviano because she had little experience on European tracks and World Cup events have been exclusively in Europe the past two Olympic cycles. From Aviano, she traveled to Cortina often even over the summer, practicing on the city’s push track.

U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Kelly Curtis, 31st Communications Squadron knowledge operations technician at Aviano Air Base, Italy, sprints down an iced sliding track with her skeleton sled during the start of a skeleton run at the World Cup BOB and Skeleton at Cortina D’ Ampezzo, Italy, 2025. Curtis will be competing in the Milano-Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic Games as a skeleton slider. (Antone Williams/U.S. Air Force)

She’s already seen the results. Curtis ranks 16th in the world according to the International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation.

Curtis also admitted she’s having golden dreams after placing second at World Cup event on Jan. 9 in St. Moritz, Switzerland.

“Just enough that I can be delusional and dream big for these Games,” Curtis said. “It shows me that when I slide my best, I am one of the best in the world.”

Curtis expressed hope that confidence and comfort will help avoid what she called a disappointing result at the 2022 Beijing Games, where she placed 21st.

She described how skeleton athletes control their sleds using their head, shoulders, knees and toes, just like in the kids’ song. Even the slightest movement could change the course or time.

“Looking back at my runs in Beijing, I would have these little make-or-break skids, and it’s just a lot of tension within the body,” Curtis said. “I’m glad I got through that, and I’m glad that I can learn from that. And hopefully, I can bring a more relaxed state into these Games.”

Having adjusted to the Italian lifestyle should play a role in keeping her relaxed.

Her teammates already have tried to use her knowledge of the area, and her husband Jeff Milliron became a point of contact for friends and family for finding accommodations and other subjects.

Once her two events are over, she said she plans on enjoying the rest of the Olympic experience before rejoining the 31st Communications Squadron as a knowledge management technician.

“I’m just so excited to show friends, family, the different communities, the beauty of Cortina and the surrounding areas,” Curtis said.