Dominant Matt Weston powers to men's skeleton victory to win Britain's first gold of Games

Updated
Matt Weston after his run
Matt Weston after his runREUTERS / Athit Perawongmetha

World number one and hot favourite Matt Weston ⁠won the Olympic men's skeleton gold in emphatic style on Friday, incredibly clocking four track records in a ‌row to give Britain their first medal of the Games.

Germany's Axel Jungk took ‌silver for the second successive Games, a huge 0.88 ‌seconds adrift, while compatriot and defending champion Christopher Grotheer got ‌the bronze.

In truth though, there was only ever one man ‌it.

Weston was on fire in Thursday’s opening runs and built a three-tenth cushion on Jungk.

Results
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The double world champion, who has just chalked ‌up a third successive World Cup overall ⁠title, was first out again ‌on Friday with a chilly, late evening start that brought an ​extra sheen – and its associated risk – to the ice.

It made no difference to the 28-year-old, however, as ​he chalked up a third track record to stretch his lead over the German duo.

Weston said this week that if ⁠it looks as if ​he is doing nothing, then things are going well, and that was exactly the case on Friday as there was barely a flicker of movement from any part of his body ‌as he glided serenely – at 80mph – along the optimum line.

By the time he stood at the top for the final run of the day, he knew he just had to avoid any major mishaps, but instead, he went even faster to stamp his authority all over the competition.

After climbing off his sled, Weston let out his trademark roar then sunk to his knees in relief, tears pouring down his ‌face.

He becomes the first British man to win gold ​in the sport where they have three women’s titles ‌and they are now the most successful country in skeleton since it began its on-off association with the Olympics in 1928.

A notable absentee from the competition was Ukrainian Vladyslav Heraskevych, disqualified 30 minutes before the start of ⁠Thursday’s session because of his ⁠refusal to not use ‌his "helmet of remembrance" in the race.

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