Matt Weston secures skeleton gold as Great Britain grab first medal in Cortina

The dual world champion had dominated from the beginning of the competition

By contributor Anita Chambers, Press Association, Cortina
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Supporting image for story: Matt Weston secures skeleton gold as Great Britain grab first medal in Cortina
Great Britain’s Matt Weston celebrates after winning the gold medal (Andrew Milligan/PA)

Matt Weston secured Britain’s first medal at the 2026 Winter Olympics as he scooped gold in the men’s skeleton.

The dual world champion had dominated from the beginning of the competition, setting track records in both of his first two runs at the Cortina Sliding Centre on Thursday.

He started the final two heats on Friday with a combined time of one minute 52.09s, 0.3s ahead of Axel Jungk, and quickly built on that advantage when setting another new best in clocking 55.63s for his third run.

That gave him a 0.39s advantage over Jungk going into the final heat and Weston made no mistake as he increased his margin of victory to 0.88s in his final run.

Jungk was second with fellow German Christopher Grotheer third.

Weston said: “[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.”