Double gold for Matt Weston as he and Tabby Stoecker win first-ever mixed team skeleton title
Tabby Stoecker and Matt Weston have become the first-ever Olympic mixed team skeleton champions after a thrilling victory in the brand-new event.
Freya Tarbit and Marcus Wyatt went mighty close to joining them on the podium, finishing just 11-hundredths outside the medal places in fourth.
The result means Weston, an emphatic winner of the men’s title on Friday, is only the second British slider to win two Olympic titles – emulating double women’s champion Lizzy Yarnold (2014 and 2018) – and the first to win two medals at the same Games.
Stoecker, who was fifth in the women’s event, put the Brits firmly in medal contention with a solid first run but Weston – last down the track – had three-tenths of a second to make up on the German pair of Susanne Kreher and Axel Jungk.
A rapid reaction time of 0.12 meant the gap was quickly wiped out and Weston scorched down the track in 58.59 to give the Brits a combined winning time of 1:59.36.
Stoecker said: “It was everything you dream of but are not sure if it is going to happen or not. This morning I woke up and I was trying to stay really present and remember that I had one more run and tried to make it better than yesterday. For this outcome, I’m just so, so happy.”
Weston added: “Obviously the individual one has a special place in my heart, it’s everything you dream about in the sport, but now we have had the introduction of the team race, this was another goal.”
Tarbit capped an excellent week, which saw her finish seventh on her individual debut, by setting the fastest time of all 14 female athletes of 1:00.47. That was built on brilliantly by Wyatt to lead the board with three teams to go but the Brits were narrowly edged out of bronze-medal spot by Germany’s Jacqueline Pfeifer and Christopher Grotheer.
“Obviously it’s such conflicting feelings, said Tarbit. “We’re so, so happy for Matt and Tabby to do so well and we’ve seen some of our closest friends just win gold so, on the one hand, we’re absolutely buzzing for them but on the other hand obviously gutting to miss out on a medal.”
Wyatt added: “A mix of emotions, like Freya said, but we did what we did and just missed out. It was probably my best run of the five between the individual, there were still some mistakes there but I just tried to do my best.”
The British Bobsleigh and Skeleton Association (BBSA) is running a Talent ID scheme to find the next generation of British sliders. Find out more at www.thebbsa.co.uk/join-the-team-live-the-dream.
Picture credit: David Pearce / Team GB
