On a chilly Friday night in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy, Matt Weston made history for Team GB by capturing his first Olympic skeleton gold medal at the 2026 Winter Olympics. The 28-year-old British slider, already a dominant force on the World Cup circuit, delivered a flawless performance that left no doubt about his place atop the sport.
Weston’s journey to Olympic gold was nothing short of spectacular. Over two days and four heats, he set track records in every single run, an extraordinary feat that cemented his dominance. His combined time of 3 minutes, 43.33 seconds was enough to secure victory by a commanding margin of 0.88 seconds over Germany’s Axel Jungk, who took his second successive Olympic silver, and Christopher Grotheer, the defending champion, who claimed bronze.
From the very first heat, Weston was in a league of his own. On Thursday, he posted track records in both his opening runs, building a 0.39-second advantage at the halfway stage. By Friday, the pressure was on, but Weston didn’t flinch. He extended his lead with another record-breaking third run and capped off the competition with a near-perfect final slide. As he crossed the finish line, Weston was overcome with emotion, breaking into tears and embracing his coach, Latvian skeleton legend Martins Dukurs, himself a 2014 Olympic gold medalist.
“I expect every time I stand at the top of the start line, I’m going there for one reason and one reason only,” Weston reflected after his victory. “And that’s to win.” According to Weston, the gold meant "everything" to him. "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."
Weston’s triumph is historic on multiple fronts. Not only is it Team GB’s first gold medal of these Winter Games, but it also marks the first time a British man has won Olympic skeleton gold since the sport was reintroduced to the Games in 2002. In fact, he is the first British male individual to win gold at a Winter Olympics since figure skater Robin Cousins back in 1980. Amy Williams (2010) and Lizzy Yarnold (2014, 2018) had previously claimed Olympic skeleton gold for Britain, but Weston’s win breaks a long-standing barrier for British men in the sport.
The road to this moment was anything but smooth for Weston. He began his athletic career in taekwondo, competing at national and European levels and earning international honors for England. A stress fracture in his back at age 17 forced him to retire from taekwondo, but that setback paved the way for his introduction to skeleton. Encouraged by his weightlifting coach, he entered a UK Sport talent identification program in 2017. He first competed in skeleton in 2019, quickly making his mark by winning two Europa Cup titles in his first three races. By 2020, he had secured his first World Cup medal, and by 2021, he had claimed GB’s first World Cup gold in 14 years.
Weston’s Olympic journey had a rocky start. At the 2022 Beijing Games, he finished 15th and reportedly considered quitting after Team GB failed to win any skeleton medals for the first time since the sport’s Olympic return. But persistence paid off. Since Beijing, Weston has become a serial winner: two-time world champion (2023, 2025), three-time overall World Cup champion (including his third title just last month), and double European champion. In the current World Cup season alone, he won five of seven races, with teammate Marcus Wyatt—who finished ninth in Cortina—claiming the other two.
Weston’s consistency is staggering. Between Beijing 2022 and these Olympics, he took part in 34 World Cup or world championship races, medaling in 28 and winning 15—a podium rate of 82% and a win rate of 54%. “I think I’m a massive perfectionist,” he admitted. “That kind of manifests itself in a lot of ways in my life. But in skeleton, sometimes when I win, I’m annoyed because I haven’t won correctly.” This time, even Weston could find nothing to fault.
The competition in Cortina wasn’t without controversy. Ukrainian athlete Vladyslav Heraskevych was disqualified approximately 30 minutes before the start of the event for insisting on wearing a helmet honoring more than 20 Ukrainian coaches and athletes killed since Russia’s invasion. Heraskevych’s appeal was denied by the Court of Arbitration for Sport after a hearing in Milan on Friday, meaning he never got the chance to compete for a medal. Many believed he could have been a contender, but as the results showed, beating Weston would have been a tall order.
Germany’s Axel Jungk and Christopher Grotheer maintained their status as skeleton powerhouses, with Jungk repeating his silver medal performance from Beijing and Grotheer, the 2022 Olympic champion, adding another bronze to his collection. Team GB’s Marcus Wyatt, another medal hopeful after a strong World Cup season, finished ninth, while U.S. competitors Austin Florian and Dan Barefoot placed 12th and 20th, respectively. Florian is set to race in the mixed skeleton event, where he and Mystique Ro are reigning world champions.
Weston celebrated his victory by draping himself in the Union Flag and was quickly lauded by fans, teammates, and even British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, who posted, “History-making. Congratulations Matt Weston!” on X. The win is not just a personal triumph for Weston but a moment of national pride, signaling the return of British dominance in skeleton and inspiring a new generation of athletes.
As the dust settles in Cortina, there’s little doubt that Matt Weston’s gold will be remembered as one of the defining moments of these Winter Olympics. With the mixed skeleton event still to come and Team GB’s momentum building, fans can’t help but wonder: what’s next for Britain’s newest Olympic hero?