Matt Weston secured his first World Championship title in 2023.
Great Britain’s Matt Weston commenced his Skeleton World Cup campaign emphatically, clinching victory in Friday’s season-opening race held in Cortina.
Weston, 28, prevailed over Austria’s Samuel Maier by a margin of 0.15 seconds after two runs in Italy, earning his tenth World Cup gold medal.
Later on Friday, the British duo of Tabby Stoecker and Marcus Wyatt triumphed in the team race, posting a combined time of two minutes 1.23 seconds.
They finished just five hundredths of a second ahead of Germany’s Jacqueline Pfeifer and Axel Jungk, and two tenths ahead of Austria’s Janine Flock and Maier at the venue that will host the upcoming Olympic Winter Games in February.
Stoecker, who previously secured fifth place in the women’s event, recorded the fastest women’s time in the team race at one minute 1.31 seconds. Wyatt was just nine hundredths of a second shy of the fastest men’s time, clocking in at 59.92 seconds.
Earlier, Weston’s start times of 4.78 and 4.76 seconds ranked only 24th and 18th fastest, respectively, requiring him to overcome a significant deficit to reach the podium.
However, Weston, a two-time world champion, compensated through the 16-corner track, ultimately winning with a time of one minute 53.84 seconds and securing his 21st podium finish in his last 25 races.
“I’m delighted with this win. Following a challenging pre-season due to injury, achieving this result is a tremendous boost,” Weston stated.
A hamstring injury had previously forced Weston to miss a pre-season training camp in Norway.
“I’m not able to push at my usual pace, but I feel like I’ve really connected with the track, and it showed,” Weston added.
“Starting 24th and then 18th, but still securing the win, demonstrates that my sliding was on point, despite missing a lot of ice time due to the injury.”
“It’s been an incredible two or three weeks here – it’s an amazing venue and a really interesting track – and I’m already looking forward to trying to match today’s result when we come back for the big one,” said Weston.
“I know that this result won’t mean anything come the Olympics but it’s a great way to start the season and it will definitely give me confidence when we come back here in February.”
The Milano-Cortina Winter Olympics are scheduled to take place in Italy from February 6-22, 2026.