LAKE PLACID, N.Y. (AP) — Matt Weston finished 15th in men's skeleton at the 2022 Beijing Olympics, something he considered wildly disappointing.
He's been the best in the world ever since. The 28-year-old from Britain is the world champion once again — and just like his first world title two years ago, this one came in blowout fashion, the sort of dominant performance that will make him the favorite for gold headed into the Olympic season. Weston completed his four-run slate down the Mount Van Hoevenberg track — possibly the one that’ll play host to next year’s Milan-Cortina Olympics — on Friday in 3 minutes, 35.
48 seconds. His winning margin of 1.90 seconds was the second-largest in a men’s world championships since skeleton was restored to the Olympic program about a quarter-century ago.
“Pretty amazing, to be honest,” Weston said. “I think to have two titles to my name is pretty amazing. And to be fair, for both of them to be such massive wins, I was not expecting that.
” The biggest win in a men’s skeleton world championship since the sport returned to the Olympic program was by 2.08 seconds, that coming at Lake Placid in 2012 by Latvia’s Martins Dukurs — now a coach in the British program. The second-biggest win, until Friday, was Weston’s 1.
79-second victory at St. Moritz, Switzerland, two years ago. That was a rout.
This was even more one-sided. Meet your favorite for gold in 2026, whether the race will be in the Italian Alps or the Adirond.