Matt Weston Targets Historic Double Gold at Winter Olympics After Skeleton Triumph
Great Britain's Matt Weston is on the brink of making Olympic history, as he sets his sights on securing a second gold medal at the Winter Games in Cortina. The 29-year-old athlete has already achieved a remarkable feat by demolishing the competition in the men's skeleton event, winning by a decisive margin of 0.88 seconds over Germany's Axel Jungk.
Historic Victory and Team Ambitions
Weston's victory on Friday evening marked a significant milestone, as he became the first British man to claim gold in the skeleton discipline. Now, he has the opportunity to etch his name further into the record books by competing in the mixed team competition on Sunday. In this relay event, Weston will partner with one of Britain's female skeleton athletes—Tabby Stoecker, Freya Tarbit, or Amelia Coleman—while also teaming up with Marcus Wyatt, who finished ninth in the men's competition.
"I think doing the individual is one thing, it's an amazing position to be in, the fact that I'm here with a gold medal in front of me on the table, it feels absolutely amazing," Weston said. "But the chance to be a double Olympic champion—I think we do have a pretty good chance as well. The girls are some extremely fast starters, so that really, really helps in the team event. I think we're going to be one of the strongest set of teams out there, and I think we can definitely take it to the rest of the nations, and hopefully come back with a few more bits of bling."
Celebrations and Medal Care
Following his victory, Weston's celebrations were modest, limited to enjoying three slices of margherita pizza in the athletes' village food hall. However, he has taken great care to protect his hard-earned medal, storing it safely in a drawer next to his bed and later wrapping it in a sock to keep it pristine until he receives the official box from the medal ceremony.
"I've got a drawer next to my bed, I kind of tucked it in there very safe, and then as soon as I woke up this morning I was like, 'It's still there? Is it a dream?'. I very quickly had a little look at it and made sure it was still there, but it's been living inside a sock for the past couple of hours, because I haven't got the box yet from the medal ceremony, so I'm keeping it in a sock to try to keep it as fresh as possible," Weston explained. "I'm terrified of it falling off the end of the ribbon like I've seen some people, so I'm like cradling it half the time, it's like my little baby, but it's amazing, I love it."
Mental Health Advocacy and Inspiration
Weston attributes part of his success to the psychological support he has received, which has helped him balance his competitive and personal personas. He is a strong advocate for mental health, encouraging others to seek similar guidance.
"To almost put those two together, it's a great way of working. It's tough when you first start working with psychologists, you kind of dig into things that are quite tough sometimes. I'm a massive advocate for anything to do with mental health and most people should be speaking to a psych. I think that, no matter whether you feel fine or not, it's a great way of letting some emotions out and making sure you're the best version of yourself," he said.
Having started his skeleton career only in 2017, Weston is now focused on inspiring future generations. "I didn't know I'd be in this position nine years ago. I think whether it's to do with sport or life, if an opportunity presents itself like this, you never know where it's going to take you. So grab it with both hands and give it your all—you never know what position you're going to be in a few years down the line," he added.
