Matt Weston is relishing the chance to make British Olympic history by becoming the first athlete to win two gold medals at the same Winter Games.
The 29-year-old demolished the opposition in the men’s skeleton in Cortina on Friday evening, winning by a margin of 0.88seconds from Axel Jungk to become the first British man to win gold in the discipline.
Weston now has the chance to write his name into the record books in the mixed team competition on Sunday, as he will partner up with one of Britain’s three female skeleton athletes – Tabby Stoecker, Freya Tarbit or Amelia Coleman – in a relay event which will also feature 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.”
Weston admitted his post-race celebrations were limited to three slices of margherita pizza in the food hall at the athletes village, but his medal has been safely stowed away and he reports it to be fully intact after some athletes reported issues with theirs detaching from the ribbon.
He explained: “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.
“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.”
Weston pointed to the help he has received from psychologists to marry “Competition Matt” and “Home Matt”, who he says are very different people, as a factor in his success.
He said: “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.”
Weston only began his skeleton career in 2017 and he is now keen to inspire the next generation of athletes in the sport.
He added: “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.”
