Matt Weston launched his World Cup skeleton campaign with a commanding victory in Cortina on Friday, delivering a performance that set a powerful tone for the season and renewed Britain’s confidence ahead of the 2026 Winter Olympics.
The 28-year-old claimed his tenth World Cup gold, finishing 0.15 seconds clear of Austria’s Samuel Maier after two near-flawless runs. Weston completed the contest in one minute 53.84 seconds, turning a slow start into a commanding finish on the challenging 16-corner track. His push times ranked 24th and 18th, yet he used controlled sliding and precise steering to overhaul the field, securing his twenty-first podium in twenty-five races.
Weston admitted that the road to Cortina had been far from smooth. A hamstring injury forced him to miss a key pre-season camp in Norway, casting doubt on his readiness. The win, he said, felt like both relief and confirmation. He described the pre-season as demanding and said the injury had held back his top speed, though he felt an unusual sense of rhythm on the Italian ice.
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The result carries symbolic weight, as the Milano-Cortina Winter Olympics will take place on the same track from February 6 to 22, 2026. Weston described Cortina as an “incredible venue” and said the experience of winning on Olympic ice gave him a surge of confidence for his return in February. He acknowledged that success in November will not guarantee anything when the Games arrive, but he sees the performance as a valuable benchmark.
Weston ended his reflection by looking ahead to the next stages of the season, encouraged by how he managed the opening test despite limited training time. His comeback win, achieved through poise rather than power, signals that Great Britain’s leading skeleton athlete remains one of the men to beat as the sport heads toward its biggest stage.
