In the frozen heart of the Italian Dolomites, Matt Weston delivered a performance that will echo through British winter sporting history for generations.
After completing each of his four golden runs, Weston dismounted his fibreglass sled, roared with delight, flexed his biceps and beamed from ear to ear. This was not simply victory. This was release, redemption and national pride poured into 60 seconds of fearless speed.
Following the angst, tears and near misses earlier in the week, Weston was determined not only to seize Team GB’s first medal of these Winter Games, but to savour every second of it. And why not. It is only the 13th Olympic gold on snow and ice that Great Britain has won in 102 years of trying.
The 28 year old Surrey athlete completed a remarkable grand slam season, adding Olympic gold to his world and European titles and his dominance of the season long World Cup. In the final reckoning, he was fastest on all four runs, leaving Germany’s Axel Jungk and Christopher Grotheer trailing in his wake.
His times told the story of total command:
Run 1: 56.21 seconds
Run 2: 55.88
Run 3: 55.63
Run 4: 55.61
His winning total of 3:43.33 left him 0.88 seconds clear of Jungk, more than doubling his advantage from the third run and securing the second largest winning margin in Olympic history.
“It means everything,” Weston said. “I’ve missed funerals, birthdays, everything. It feels amazing. Hopefully I did you proud at home. It’s a feeling unlike anything else – I’m in a blur. I’m being very careful with the medal. I’ve seen all the other ones breaking. I’m going to sleep with it tonight.”
As he approached the decisive final descent, wrapped in his specially heated Team GB coat, there were just 16 turns and 1,445 metres between him and history. Weston has described skeleton as “like you’re flying, floating on air” and, at the moment of maximum jeopardy, he produced a fourth straight track record in two days.
When he crossed the line, he tore off his helmet and roared. He then knelt, rested his head on the ice and shook with emotion as Latvian coach Martins Dukurs embraced him. Moments later, he rose to sing as God Save the King echoed across the mountains.
“It’s crazy,” he told TNT Sports. “It’s a feeling unlike anything else. I’ve been fortunate to win world and European championships but this blows them out the water, I can’t describe it. I feel like I’m in a blur.
“I’m so glad my family are here. It’s not just me that’s had to sacrifice for this – it’s my fiance – my family. I’ve missed weddings and funerals for this.
“I’m being very careful with the medal. I’ve seen all the other ones breaking. I’m going to sleep with it tonight. The feeling is unlike anything else I’ve ever done before. It means so much.”
From taekwondo to the top of the world
Weston’s rise is as unconventional as it is inspirational. Britain does not possess a full skeleton track, yet through UK Sport’s 2017 talent identification campaign, Discover Your Gold, he found his calling. Then 20, he had already been a medallist at the World Junior Championships in taekwondo and had played rugby union in the Saracens academy.
A serious stress fracture in his back narrowed his options, but skeleton suited his explosive sprint and exceptional balance. He soon mastered the minute body adjustments required to steer a brakeless sled at 80mph, even undergoing training with the Royal Marines to test his physical and mental limits.
Within four years he had won a World Cup race. After finishing 15th at the Beijing Games, retirement briefly beckoned, lasting only a month. Since then, he has collected world and European crowns and arrived in Italy as the clear favourite.
His triumph is also a vindication of Britain’s high performance system. Funding for skeleton was cut after Beijing, yet partnerships with universities and major companies, including Formula One teams, have driven technological advances. Equipment has been refined in a Manchester wind tunnel, while a flight simulator in Bath allows athletes to rehearse Olympic tracks virtually.
Teammate Marcus Wyatt, who finished ninth here, has been a crucial ally. The pair shared a room in Cortina and, as Weston joked, are “like an old married couple”. That camaraderie underpinned Britain’s strength in depth.
With his wedding to fiancée Alex Howard Jones set for July, Weston’s fairytale year continues. But on this night in Cortina, wrapped in the Union flag and crowned Olympic champion, he stood as the face of modern British winter sport, daring, innovative and unshakeably proud.
From a nation without a home track to the very top of the podium, Matt Weston has carved his name into Olympic ice.
