There’s a certain thrill associated with a sport that involves hurtling headfirst on a tiny sled down a twisty track at speeds of up to 90 miles per hour.

However, Ro, the first American to medal in skeleton in 12 years at the IBSF World Championships in 2025, initially thought it wasn’t for her.

“The coach walks me to the line, lets me go, and all of a sudden, it’s going so fast, you cannot see anything, you cannot process anything,” she told The Athletic in December, recalling her first experience with the sport in 2016 after being told she was too small for bobsledding. “I get to the bottom, and it’s like, ‘I’m done, bye! I’m not doing that again!’”

But after hearing enough people rave about how exciting it was, she decided to give it another try.

A decade later, the Virginia native is competing in her first Olympics, ready to participate individually and in the mixed (co-ed) team event, which will debut at the 2026 Games.

When she’s not training and traveling, Ro—who is the second-oldest of 11 siblings, including a twin sister who is 14 minutes younger—works as a tour guide at the Lake Placid Olympic Center. This is one of many athletes in lesser-known sports who supplement their income with a day job.

“I work there, I train there, I live and breathe that atmosphere all the time,” she explained. “And tourists love it because you have an athlete walking you around the facility, giving you their unique perspective. It’s really cool, but it’s not going to cover everything I need to do this sport.”