The 32-year-old from Rotorua is the second New Zealand athlete to make the podium at a world championship, and the second called Sandford.
Yesterday's performance at Lake Placid, in upstate New York, puts Sandford in an elite group alongside his uncle, Bruce, who won gold in Calgary 20 years ago, and has him in line for a $55,000 performance grant from High Performance Sport New Zealand.
Sandford, who has a world ranking of No 13, clocked 3min 39.50sec over his four rounds.
World No 1 Latvian Martins Dukurs won the title in 3min 37.09sec, while German Frank Rommel, world No 2, took silver in 3min 39.17sec, just 0.33sec up on Sandford, who in turn finished 0.15sec ahead of fourth-placed Russian Sergei Chudinov.
Skeleton racers, who slide head first down an icy track on a sled, are divided into those who are pushers or drivers.
Pushers benefit on tracks with a long sprint start. Sandford is one of those who prefers a shorter sprint which accentuates driving ability.
Lake Placid, and St Moritz, where he came second in the World Cup event last month, both favour Sandford's style.
He is a veteran of the circuit, having been competing internationally for close to 10 years.
Sandford, who has also won four second tier America's Cup titles this season, finished 13th at the Winter Olympics in Vancouver two years ago, which was a "pushers" track.
Wanaka's Katharine Eustace finished 13th in the women's final yesterday, on her first full year on the circuit, during which she took three top 10 placings in World Cup races last month. She clocked 3min 45.00sec, 2.31sec behind bronze medallist Elizabeth Yarnold , of Britain.
American Katie Uhlaender won gold in 3min 42.33sec, 0.17sec ahead of Canadian Mellisa Hollingsworth.
- David Leggat
