Congratulations to our very own Matt Weston who struck gold for the second time this season in the world cup for the winter sport of skeleton.
The 25-year-old from Crowborough won the latest skeleton world cup event which was held in Altenberg, Germany at the weekend. It’s his second victory of the eight-event season, having topped the podium at Lake Placid in the USA back in December.
Two more chances to shine
And with bronze place finishes in Whistler and Park City, USA, the Brit is fifth overall in the world cup standings with two events to come in February in Austria and Latvia.
What makes Matt’s achievement even more impressive is the fact that he only took up the sport in 2017 and only made his making his World Cup debut in 2021. He was part of the GB Olympic team which competed in Beijing last year where he finished 15th.
More than 80mph
Skeleton is a sliding sport in which the athlete rides a small sled, known as a skeleton bobsled, down a frozen track while lying face down and head-first. During elite racing the rider experiences accelerations up to 5g and, amazingly, reaches speeds over 80 miles per hour.
Matt Weston during Skeleton training at the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games on the 2nd February 2022 at the Yanqing Sliding Centre in Yanqing, China. Photo by Sam Mellish / Team GB.
Matt, who has been ranked ninth in the world, went to Bennett Memorial School in Tunbridge Wells and now trains at the University of Bath alongside other skeleton and bobsleigh athletes. His parents and brother still live in Crowborough. His introduction to skeleton came via the Discover Your Gold scheme following a suggestion from his weightlifting coach.
So much fun
Following his latest win, a euphoric Matt posted some podium pictures on Facebook showing his absolute delight at clinching gold. He said: “Could you tell I was happy? This win meant a lot. It’s such a tough track and even tougher to beat the Germans on a home track. There was such a great atmosphere and I had so much fun!”
He has previously explained that it was the Olympic success of Lizzie Yarnold who won successive golds in 2014 and 2018 that inspired him. “In my first ever year in skeleton I saw Lizzy win Olympic gold. That was a massive inspiration for me and my whole career since then.”
Back in November 2021 he became the first Brit to win a world cup gold in almost 14 years. That result gave him a huge confidence boost. “When I’m on it I can compete and beat the world’s best.” Already twice this season he has proved that to be the case.
Well done Matt from everyone at Your East Sussex and good luck for the two remaining events.
Follow Matt on Facebook at (1) Matt Weston | Facebook
