Matt Weston won Team GB’s first gold medal at Milano Cortina in the men’s skeleton
Matt Weston won gold for Team GB at the Winter Olympics at Milano Cortina.
The 28-year-old slumped to the ice in tears after breaking a track record as he held off competition from Axel Jungk and reigning Olympic champion Cristopher Grotheer, who both became double Olympic winners in second and third, respectively.
Weston picked up four track records after all four of his heats. The Skelton athlete became the first Brit to win individual gold at a Games since Robin Cousins in 1980 and the first ever British man to win skelton gold.
His efforts got Great Britain on the board for the first time after narrowly missing out during the opening seven days of the Winter Olympics.
Both Jungk and Grotheer were on the podium in Beijing, four years ago, and Jungk finished marginally ahead of his countryman to become a two-time silver medalist.
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But Weston’s historic final run saw him cross the line in 3.43.33, 0.8 of a second faster than the German.
He made his debut in skelton six years ago in 2019, after switching two years earlier, finishing 15th on his first run in the Europa Cup in Germany before claiming silver and bronze in Austria and Germany a month later.
A thigh injury delayed his start to the 2025/26 season, but he claimed a second world champion crown before clinching a third successive World Cup title last month.
Speaking before the final, he said: “I was quite annoyed after the first run. I tried to be a bit too relaxed, because I tried to over-compensate for race-day nerves.
“It’s pretty crazy (to be leading overnight) but I take every run as run one. I will completely reset myself, switch off for a bit and then re-focus on Friday.”
Reacting to the historic gold, Team GB chef de mission, Eve Muirhead said: “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.”
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