Team GB has claimed their first victory at the Winter Olympics as Matt Weston secured a gold medal in the men’s skeleton event. Weston, aged 28, emerged as one of Team GB’s top contenders in Milano Cortina and delivered exceptional performances in the initial heats, leading the competition after the first two rounds.
His impressive timings of 56.21 and 55.88 in the first two runs accumulated to an overall time of 1:52.09 going into the second day. Weston continued his stellar performance with a noteworthy time of 55.63 in the third heat. The pinnacle of his achievement came with a record-breaking time of 55.61 in the final run, bringing tears of joy to Weston as he celebrated with his teammate Marcus Wyatt and the Team GB coaching staff.
This triumph marks a significant turnaround for Weston, who finished 15th in the previous Winter Olympics. Meanwhile, Wyatt, although performing better on the second day in Italy, secured the seventh position with a total time of 3:45.77.
Reflecting on his win, Weston expressed, “It means everything. It means a hell of a lot to me personally, I have worked so hard for this. Everyone back at home, my fiancee, my family, my friends, everyone that has sacrificed for me to be here. I have missed funerals, birthdays, everything for this moment and it feels amazing.”
Following Weston’s victory, Team GB finally made their mark on the Winter Olympics medal table. In other results, German athletes Axel Jungk and Christopher Grotheer claimed the silver and bronze medals respectively.
Commenting on Weston’s performance, Lizzie Yarnold remarked, “Matt Weston is traveling so fast and making decisions in tenths of a second, he doesn’t have any time to think ahead. He must be physically exhausted and emotionally overwhelmed. These athletes work three sessions a day, looking at analysis, looking at tenths of a second. It’s paid off.”
Eve Muirhead, the Team GB chef de mission, praised Weston’s composure under pressure, stating, “I’m absolutely over the moon for him, what a great guy, athlete, first medal of the Olympics, absolutely buzzing for him. The pressure he was under and he was cool as a cucumber. To come out and deliver those runs, I hate watching, that was unreal. It shows what an athlete he is, what a legend, he’s shown what he’s made of. He’s had great support.”