Historic Team USA Skeleton Athlete Returns To Princeton Roots For School Visit

PRINCETON, NJ — Two-time Olympian Kelly Curtis returned to her Princeton roots last week, visiting Princeton Middle School to inspire students and introduce them to the sport that made her a trailblazer on the world stage.

Curtis, 37, became the first Black athlete to represent the United States in skeleton at the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics and most recently finished 12th at the 2026 Milan Cortina Winter Olympics — a significant improvement from her Olympic debut. She serves in the U.S. Air Force through the World Class Athlete Program, balancing military service with elite-level training.

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A Princeton High School graduate who grew up three houses from the school in the Witherspoon Jackson neighborhood, Curtis walked into the new gymnasium to the Olympic theme music, accompanied by her husband and trainer, Jeff Milliron, and their three-year-old daughter, Maeve, who wore a miniature USA Skeleton helmet.

The visit carried a wave of local nostalgia. A school staffer showed Curtis a 2003 eighth-grade Washington D.C. trip photo still hanging in the assistant principal's office, where she immediately identified herself and named former classmates. She also noted that the "tiny gym" where she once played middle school basketball has since been transformed into the school's Learning Commons.

Five student moderators led the assembly, asking questions they had prepared in advance. Curtis autographed photos and handed them to students who correctly answered trivia questions about her athletic journey.

She also invited five volunteers to practice skeleton takeoff steps on the gymnasium floor, and demonstrated her aerodynamic speed suit and helmet, which she said is tested in a Honda Automotive wind tunnel.

Curtis grew up in an athletic family and played several sports before competing as a heptathlete at Springfield College, where she won the 2011 Penn Relays Heptathlon. She switched to skeleton in 2013 after seeing athletes race headfirst down the ice at speeds as high as 90 miles per hour.

"Her visit was a powerful reminder that success is built through dedication and courage, and that our students are capable of achieving amazing things," said Coach Jason Carter, who organized the event and appeared in a childhood photo alongside Curtis's older brother.

"It's not every day that you get to have a USA Olympian visit your Physical Education classroom," said PMS health teacher Amy Wargo.

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