Team USA rookie Hallie Clarke is back in action Friday as skeleton -- and bobsled -- athletes continue their North American swing with the IBSF World Cup stop in Lake Placid, N.Y.
The week marks the third stop of the eight-event season for the 18-year-old Clarke, who’s not only facing the challenges of a freshman season on the World Cup but also her first year racing for the United States. Born in Belleville, Ontario, Clarke began her skeleton career during the 2019-20 season as a member of Team Canada, where she quickly rose through the ranks.
In her first season, she notched four podiums in four starts on the OMEGA Youth Series Competition circuit, winning once in Park City, Utah, and finishing second three times. That momentum continued into 2021-22, where she recorded three podiums in North American Cup competition and three more in Intercontinental Cup races.
But ahead of this season’s start, Clarke made the switch to Team USA – a move she says was simply a return to her roots.
“I grew up in the U.S.,” Clarke told On Her Turf during the World Cup stop two weeks ago in Park City, where she finished ninth. “I spent 13 of my 18 years there, so I just felt like it was time.”
Clarke lived in Buffalo, N.Y., until age 10, when she moved with her family to Marlborough, Mass. But after three years in Massachusetts, her mom’s job relocated the family to Calgary, where a curious 14-year-old Clarke stumbled upon a “learn to push” sign while ice skating at the WinSport Ice House.
“I felt it was time for something new after years of being a multisport athlete, so I gave it a try,” she explains on her website. “It wasn’t an easy introduction to the sport. I crashed my very first run and had to find the courage to get back on the sled.”
Clarke said she gave it a “few more tries” that same night – and hasn’t looked back since. Just a few months after taking up skeleton, she became the youngest ever to slide down the Whistler, Canada, track – known as one of the fastest track in the world -- at more than 87 mph.
“I think just like the speed,” says Clarke, who even finished high school faster than most, graduating a year early in 2021. “When you’re going down the track and it’s coming at you so quick that you don’t have time to think about anything. So there’s like a state of calm in the chaos almost, and I just I love that.”
That passion for speed came through in her first performance for Team USA in November, where Clarke captured a North American Cup win in Whistler. She followed up with a third-place finish the following day in a second NA Cup race, and Clarke officially announced her arrival to the elite ranks just 12 days later – stepping onto the podium in her World Cup debut Nov. 24 after finishing second in Whistler.
“I consider Whistler to be my home track, so starting there was awesome,” she recalls. “Then to get that result was surreal. It didn’t feel like it actually happened. The nerves and excitement just from it being my first World Cup alone were crazy -- and then to do that, it was just kind of the cherry on top. There’s a part of me that I think still is in shock about it.”
She also credits her new team, noting she’s felt welcomed by the coaches, teammates and staff from the beginning.
“It’s been the best move,” she says of joining Team USA. “The U.S. program -- they give me a lot of support. It’s been amazing. So I think it’s been the right decision.”
But Clarke’s hot-out-of-the-gate performance is no surprise to her U.S. teammates, including 2022 Olympian Kelly Curtis, who points to Clarke’s solid foundation in the sport as key to her early success.
“She’s had great coaching from the start,” said Curtis, noting Clarke’s time with the Snipers Skeleton Club in Calgary under coach Joe Cecchini. “He has really built up his program to progress sliders along, and Hallie’s just a testament to his coaching. Also, I think she’s able to grasp concepts really quickly, which also helps. I’m excited to see what she does for the rest of season.”
As for her goals this season, Clarke admits she has already checked a few off the list after securing her first World Cup podium and a top-10 finish.
“Overall, I’m trying to be like top 15 in the world because I was 20 last year, so I feel like it’s a good goal to set,” explains Clarke. “So far, go good.”
The IBSF World Cup continues this weekend in Lake Placid with skeleton on Friday, Dec. 16, followed by women’s monobob on Saturday and the two-woman bobsled on Sunday.
