2 hours ago
2
Matt Weston celebrated becoming the first British athlete to win a gold medal at these Olympics by having three slices of margherita pizza and then going straight to bed. “Some people might find it surprising,” Weston said on Saturday morning, “but I’ve got to keep my head together for the team race on Sunday.”
The mixed team skeleton is a new event at these Olympics, and it means Weston has a shot at becoming the first British athlete to win two medals at the same Winter Olympics.
“Doing the individual is one thing, and it’s an amazing kind of position to be here with a gold medal in front of me on the table,” Weston said, “but it would be amazing to become a double Olympic champion, I think we do have a pretty good chance.”
Weston will be paired with the fastest finisher among the three British athletes competing in the women’s competition, Tabby Stoecker, Freya Tarbit, and Amelia Coltman. They will both make one run down the track, and their combined time will be what counts. The key difference is that, unlike the regular event, the mixed team skeleton uses a reaction start. Sledders can only go when the start lights change, and there’s a half-second penalty for anyone who makes a false start.
“I think we’re going to be one of the strongest sets of teams out there,” Weston says. “We can definitely take it to the rest of the nations, and hopefully come back with a few more bits of bling.”
Their strongest competition comes from China, Austria, and Germany, whose men won the silver and bronze in the men’s event behind Weston, and women filled the same positions after the first two heats of their event.
Germany has won the event on four of the five times it has been held at the world championships, but Weston finished second on each of the last three occasions, twice in partnership with Stoecker. “We’ve had quite a few of them now, although this year I only actually took part in one because I have been restricting how much I’ve been doing because of the pretty bad injury at the start of the season. But I haven’t forgotten how to do it so, yeah, I’m excited to see what we can do and I think the team’s in a great position.”
Weston has broken the track record in Cortina four times already this week, but is convinced he can be even quicker. “I’m very much a perfectionist so even in that last run there’s some bits that I wasn’t quite happy with,” he says.
“I look at it as a continuation, like a five-heat race. The only difference is that reaction start, and that’s quite exciting, it adds a bit of jeopardy and adds a bit of adrenaline so hopefully I’ll push a bit faster as well. It’s just laying it all out there.”
Weston’s roommate at these Games, Marcus Wyatt, will also compete in the mixed team event, along with the second-fastest of the British women.
