Matt Weston Claims Skeleton Gold to End Team GB's Medal Drought at Milan-Cortina Olympics
Matt Weston has triumphed in the skeleton event at the Winter Olympics in Milan and Cortina d'Ampezzo, securing a gold medal that ends Team GB's prolonged wait for a podium finish. The 28-year-old double world champion converted his overnight lead into a decisive victory at the Cortina Sliding Centre, clinching his country's first individual Winter Olympic gold since Lizzy Yarnold retained her title in the women's skeleton at Pyeongchang eight years ago.
Dominant Performance Seals Historic Victory
Arriving at the Games as the strong favourite, Weston delivered emphatically to earn Team GB's inaugural medal of the event in Italy. Supported by his fiancée Alex Howard-Jones and family in Cortina, he entered the second day of the men's competition with a healthy 0.30-second lead after clocking 56.21 on his first run and improving to 55.88 in his second. Weston extended his advantage to 0.39 seconds following a third run of 55.63, ultimately finishing ahead of Germany's Axel Jungk, who took silver, and compatriot Christopher Grotheer, the Beijing 2022 champion, who claimed bronze.
This victory comes after days of agonising heartbreak for Team GB, who were backed with £25 million in funding for this Olympic cycle. Freestyle skier Kirsty Muir, snowboarder Mia Brookes, and curlers Bruce Mouat and Jen Dodds had all finished fourth in their respective events, while ice dancers Lilah Fear and Lewis Gibson also missed a medal opportunity. Weston's success makes him just the 13th British athlete ever to win a gold medal at the Winter Olympics, with teammate Marcus Wyatt also competing.
Controversy and Preparation Behind the Scenes
The build-up to the event was dominated by a row over the British team's helmets, which were ruled illegal. Weston and Wyatt instead reverted to the helmets they used to dominate the 2025-26 World Cup season, with Weston winning five of seven races and Wyatt the other two. The skeleton competition itself was overshadowed by the controversial disqualification of Ukraine's Vladyslav Heraskevych, who was sensationally thrown out for attempting to wear a helmet depicting athletes killed in the war with Russia. Heraskevych appealed, but the Court of Arbitration for Sport rejected his claim on Friday.
Weston is engaged to Howard-Jones, chief operating officer and founding member of pltfrm search, a specialised executive search firm based in London. The pair are set to marry in July and share a ten-year-old cocker spaniel named Logan.
From Taekwondo to Skeleton: Weston's Unlikely Journey
Weston's sporting career began in a completely different field. Born in Tunbridge Wells, Kent, he participated in competitive taekwondo, winning gold and silver medals at the European Cup in 2012 and silver and bronze at the International Taekwondo Federation World Cup in 2014. However, he retired from the sport at just 17 due to a back fracture.
Instead, he focused on rugby, representing Kent, Sevenoaks RFC, and a Saracens Academy College. In 2017, his weightlifting coach Chris Dear introduced him to skeleton through the British Skeleton Discover Your Gold talent identification scheme. To prepare, Weston completed a training period with the Royal Marines to test his physical and mental fitness.
He made his competitive debut in 2019 at the Europa Cup in Winterberg, Germany, placing 15th, before winning a silver medal in Igls, Austria, and a bronze in Altenberg, Germany. In 2021, he secured a gold for Great Britain at the men's World Cup, the first win in the sport for almost 14 years. After competing at the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics and with a new coach, he won the European title in 2023, became world champion a week later, and retained his title in 2025.
