Matt Weston: Team GB skeleton star hit in the pocket by Winter Olympics gold
The road to Olympic gold is paved with sacrifice but for Team GB skeleton star Matt Weston there is another, less common, ingredient: beer.
Weston teamed up with Tabby Stoecker to claim the mixed team title on Sunday, his second gold in 48 hours at the Milan Cortina Games after he won the individual crown.
The Tunbridge Wells slider set five new track records in the process, leaving him on the hook for several shipments of beer and staff at the facility toasting the Briton’s rapid descents.
“For those who don’t know the tradition is that every time you break a track record you have to buy a crate of beers for all the track workers,” he said.
“I’ve broken five of them so that’s a lot. It’s pretty insane to be honest: five race runs, five track records. I need to supply a lot of beer for the track workers, I think.”
Weston and Stoecker’s victory capped a super Sunday for Team GB, after Charlotte Bankes and Huw Nightingale secured gold in the mixed team snowboard cross.
It was Britain’s first ever Winter Olympic gold on snow and helped to leave them 12th in the medal table after nine days of competition in Italy.
Weston and Stoecker justify favourites’ tag
Weston came into the Games as the odds-on favourite after a stellar build-up and justified that status with a supreme display in both the individual and team events.
“Obviously the individual one has a special place in my heart, it’s everything you dream about in the sport, but now we have the team race, this was another goal,” he said.
“I treated it like a five-heat race, I had things I wanted to clean up from the individual, I wanted to tick those boxes and be boring, get it done. Hopefully that would be enough and now we are here with two golds.”
North Londonder Stoecker added: “It was everything you dream of but are not sure if it is going to happen or not.
“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.”