Bronze-medallist Marcus Wyatt ends GB men’s seven-year wait for World Cup podium place as British Skeleton impress again in Latvia
Marcus Wyatt won a first men’s IBSF World Cup medal for seven years as University of Bath-based British Skeleton athletes continued their excellent start to the 2020-21 season.
Wyatt was sixth after the first run in Sigulda, Latvia but dipped below the 50-second barrier on his second to take a fantastic third place in a combined time of 1:39.85.
In doing so, he became the first British man to earn a Skeleton World Cup podium place since University of Bath alumni Dom Parsons in November 2013.
“I can’t stop saying how crazy it is – it’s something I’ve always dreamt of,” said Wyatt, a former American Footballer who made his World Cup debut in December 2017.
“I’m a bit speechless really. We’ve got a great group here and I can’t thank the team enough for helping me get to this point. The plan now is to push on. This is a big step so now let’s go and chase a gold for the rest of the season.”
Craig Thompson was joint seventh in Sigulda in 1:40.09 and Matt Weston was 12th overall in 1:41.07.
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The women’s competition earlier in the day had seen Olympic bronze medalist Laura Deas go one better than her sixth-placed finish at the same venue in last week’s season opener by recording her best result since medalling in Calgary in February 2019.
She moved up two spots from seventh after the first run as she continues to find the consistency she has been targeting ahead of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games in less than 15 months’ time.
Deas recorded a combined time of 1 minute 44 seconds exactly after she improved her second run time by almost a quarter of a second.
So pleased with today! 2 PB runs and my best result in a long while 💪🏼🇬🇧 https://t.co/pghqul559C
— Laura Deas OLY (@skeletonlaura) November 27, 2020
Ashleigh Pittaway produced two consistent runs to finish just over half a second behind her team-mate in eighth – an improvement of four places on her position in last week’s race and one spot better than her previous World Cup best from Lake Placid 21 months ago.
Fellow Brit Brogan Crowley, who has endured an injury-affected summer, finished 16th in what was just her second World Cup appearance.
The World Cup competition now takes a short break before resuming in Igls, Austria on December 11.
The British Bobsleigh & Skeleton Association is based at the University of Bath, with its athletes accessing the Team Bath Sports Training Village and the only outdoor push-start track in the country for their UK training. Click here for more information.
Click here to visit the British Bobsleigh & Skeleton Association website for full race reports.
