Matt Weston strikes gold at Cortina sliding centre as British Skeleton athletes make winning start to 2026 Winter Olympic Games season
British Skeleton’s Matt Weston began the 2026 Winter Olympic season as he will hope to end it – on top of the podium at the Cortina d’Ampezzo sliding centre in Italy.
The reigning World Champion (pictured top), who trains at the University of Bath, produced two strong runs to start the 2025-26 IBSF World Cup campaign with an excellent gold in the first race to be staged on the track that will host the Milano-Cortina Games in February.
There was more success for British Skeleton in the mixed team event, a discipline that will make its Olympic debut next year, as Tabby Stoecker and Marcus Wyatt claimed top spot.
Weston, the first athlete down the track, was the most consistent slider in the men’s race, his times of 56.89 and 56.95 being the third-fastest and second-fastest in his respective heats. That meant he turned a 0.10sec deficit after Run 1 into a 0.15sec winning margin.
There was frustration for team-mates Wyatt and Jacob Salisbury, who were two of the fastest starters – Salisbury’s time of 4.55 only bettered by Austin Florian of the United States – but had to settle for 12th and 18th respectively.
However, Wyatt didn’t have to wait too long to get on the podium as he and Stoecker won the afternoon’s combined event by five-hundredths of a second.
Stoecker, who had set a start record of 4.82 as she recorded an impressive top-five finish in the women’s race, was the fastest woman in the team race and Wyatt was the second-fastest male slider.
Amelia Coltman, who was 10th overall in the women’s race, matched that placing in the team event with Salisbury. Freya Tarbit was 17th in the women’s race.
The British Bobsleigh and Skeleton Association (BBSA) is based at the University of Bath, a UK Sport-accredited Elite Training Centre, with the athletes doing their home training on the UK’s only outdoor push-start track, as well as in the gym and on the indoor sprint track at the Sports Training Village.
