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U.S. women’s skeleton athlete and Air Force Staff Sergeant Kelly Curtis didn’t get the results she was looking for individually in Milano Cortina.
But she still comes away feeling like a winner because she got to represent her country and get to continue with her Team USA teammates, especially the Americans who are currently challenging Germany in the women’s bobsled.
“When I put on the uniform that says USA, I’m proud to represent both my country and the United States Air Force,” Curtis told Pakinomist Digital. “But having it on the Olympic stage just makes it that much more special.”
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USA’s Kelly Curtis after heat 3 of the Women’s Skeleton at the Cortina Sliding Centre, on day eight of the Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics, Italy. Picture date: Saturday, February 14, 2026. (Andrew Milligan/PA Images via Getty Images)
Curtis’ patriotism comes at a time when some US Olympians have expressed concern and criticism about the current state of America under President Donald Trump. Curtis, as a loyal member of the US military, insists she will defend any of her teammates or other Americans who want to exercise their freedom of speech.
Team USA athletes Hunter Hess, Amber Glenn and Mikaela Shiffrin have all made statements criticizing the state of the United States while competing in Italy. Meanwhile, Curtis and fellow U.S. Air Force Olympian Jasmine Jones, who is currently looking to help lead the U.S. to the podium in bobsleigh, will be joined by ice hockey players Brady Tkachuk and Quinn Hughes in praising their country in Milan Cortina.
US HUNTERS HESS RESAGES AT TRUMP’S ‘LOSER’ CRITICISM WITH ‘L’ GESTURE AT MILAN CORTINA OLYMPICS
USA’s Kelly Curtis holds up a flag after competing in the women’s skeleton heat 4 at the Cortina Sliding Center during the Milan Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games in Cortina d’Ampezzo on February 14, 2026. (Stefano RELLANDINI/AFP)
After finishing 12th in the women’s skeleton, Curtis will be cheering on the bobsleigh team of Jones and Kaillie Humphries, who are in position to challenge for a medal podium in a crowded field of elite German rivals.
Humphires and Jones finished first in the first heat of the final on Friday, then fourth in the second heat. They have an inside track to reach the podium, probably a bronze or silver, but their dream of gold is still alive.
“They’ve got a good thing going,” Curtis said. “They definitely have a winning formula.”
As Curtis and Jones represent the only two Air Force members competing for Team USA in Milan Cortina, Curtis hopes to grow that number come the 2030 Winter Games in the French Alps.
“We have a small program for the Winter Olympics, but hopefully our program will grow and develop and we will have many more athletes competing at the 2030 Games,” she said.
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“This program requires a three-year active duty commitment, so when we graduate, we go back to our air bases where we serve as active duty members.”
Team USA fans can send Jones and teammate Kelly Curtis, who also competes in Italy, a personal letter through a program involving a partnership between Team USA and Sandboxx.
