Richland High School graduate Daniel Barefoot completed his first Olympic experience with a 20th-place finish in the men’s skeleton event Friday.
Team USA’s Barefoot finished with a total time of 3:49.86 over his four runs, which was 6.53 seconds off Great Britain’s Matt Weston’s gold-medal pace. Germany’s Axel Jungk and Christopher Grotheer earned silver and bronze, respectively, at the 2026 Milan Cortina Olympic Winter Games in Italy.
Barefoot, who graduated from Richland in 2008, was one of two competitors from the United States at the Cortina Sliding Centre in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy. American Austin Florian came in 12th place.
During Friday’s competition, Barefoot clocked times of 57.75 (23rd) and 57.42 (21st). The fourth run was the medal round.
Barefoot was in 18th place after Thursday’s first two heats, which included times of 57.47 and 57.22 seconds.
There were 24 men who completed four runs. One was disqualified.
Barefoot followed an untraditional climb to the Olympics after taking up the sport of skeleton in his mid-20s.
The 35-year-old Penn State University graduate collected three consecutive wins in the North American Cup men’s skeleton competition in Lake Placid, New York, to accumulate enough points to mathematically clinch his spot on the U.S. men’s skeleton team.