Olympic glory for Bath-based skeleton aces Weston and Stoecker

Bath-based Matt Weston has become the first British male skeleton athlete to claim Winter Olympics gold – and he was a double champion before the weekend was out.

Skeleton athletes Tabby Stoecker and Matt Weston celebrate after winning gold for Team GB in the mixed team event at the Winter Olympics | Photo © David Pearce / Team GB

Weston, 28, and his fellow Team GB skeleton and bobsleigh athletes train at the University Bath.

He is part of the 13-member skeleton and bobsleigh contingent representing Britain at the 2026 Milano-Cortina Winter Olympics in Italy.

And his gold glory on Friday 13th February handed Team GB their first medal of the Games.

Weston set two new track records on the first day of competition and carried that form into the decisive third and fourth runs, his combined time of 3 mins 43.33 secs putting him nearly a second clear of silver medallist Axel Jungk of Germany.

Victory at the Cortina Sliding Centre means Weston is now the holder of all the sport’s major titles, adding to his World, European and Overall World Cup titles.

It also capped a season of total dominance for Weston, who won gold in six of his eight international races and was runner-up in the other two.

Surrey-born Weston said on Friday: “I literally can’t describe it.

“I’ve been fortunate enough to win World Championships, European Championships and other things as well, and this blows them all out of the water. I can’t describe the feeling, I almost feel numb.”

Skeleton star Matt Weston, who trains at the University of Bath, won two gold medals for Team GB at the Winter Olympics | Photo © Sam Mellish / Team GB

Marcus Wyatt, another of the British sliders who trains at the University of Bath, produced his best time in the fourth run to place ninth overall in 3 mins 45.77 secs.

Team GB’s Tabby Stoecker, Freya Tarbit and Amelia Coltman, who all train at the University of Bath, secured top-10 finishes in the women’s skeleton on Saturday 14th February on their Winter Olympics debuts.

Stoecker was the pick of the Britons as she completed her four runs in 3 mins 50.48 secs to bag fifth place overall, with Tarbit seventh, 0.3 secs behind her.

The trio all recorded top-four placings across the individual heats, Coltman doing so during a strong final run to finish ninth overall.

Stoecker, 25, said of her fifth place: “I feel so proud of myself. The Olympics is at the end of this four-year cycle where we’ve been preparing and working really hard with the team.

“So to get to the Olympics in the first place is such an honour.

Tabby Stoecker, another skeleton athlete who trains at the University of Bath, partnered Matt Weston as Team GB won gold in the mixed team event at the Winter Olympics | Photo © Sam Mellish / Team GB

“Then to compete and to just do my very best… I’m just feeling really, really proud of myself, the team, the girls, and the boys yesterday.”

Tarbit said: “I don’t think many people can say they’ve got to go to their first Olympics with their best friends, so it just adds to the whole experience.

“This is our first Games and we’ve all finished in the top 10 – I think that’s something we’ve been really, really proud of.”

Coltman said: “I’m pleased that I have positive feelings to take away from the race because it wasn’t my best three runs before that. But I’m really happy to end on a positive note.”

However, there was much better to come for Stoecker on Sunday 15th February, when she partnered Weston and Wyatt was joined by Tarbit in the new mixed team event. The competition resulted in another gold medal for Team GB.

This time Weston and Stoecker became champions, and Wyatt and Tarbit were so close to joining them on the podium. Wyatt and Tarbit missed out on bronze by just 0.11 secs.

Weston’s latest gold medal means he is only the second British slider to win two Olympic titles – emulating double women’s champion Lizzy Yarnold (2014 and 2018) – and the first to win two medals at the same Games.

Stoecker put Team GB firmly in medal contention with a solid first run.

But Weston, who was last down the track, had 0.3 secs to make up on German duo Jungk and Susanne Kreher.

A rapid reaction time of 0.12 secs meant the gap was wiped out quickly – and Weston scorched down the track in 58.59 secs to give Team GB a combined winning time of 1 min 59.36 secs.

Tarbit capped an excellent week by setting the fastest time of all 14 female athletes – 1 min 0.47 secs.

That was built on brilliantly by Wyatt to lead the board with three teams to go.

But Team GB were just edged out of third place by Germany’s Jacqueline Pfeifer and Christopher Grotheer.

London-born Stoecker said on Sunday: “It was everything you dream of but are not sure if it’s going to happen or not.

“This morning I woke up and I was trying to stay really present and remember that I had one more run and I tried to make it better than yesterday. For this outcome, I’m just so, so happy.”

Weston said: “Obviously the individual one has a special place in my heart, it’s everything you dream about in the sport – but now we’ve had the introduction of the team race, this was another goal.”

Tarbit and Wyatt said they had mixed emotions after the close of Sunday’s competition.

Tarbit said: “Obviously it’s such conflicting feelings.

“We’re so, so happy for Matt and Tabby to do so well and we’ve seen some of our closest friends just win gold so, on the one hand, we’re absolutely buzzing for them but on the other hand it’s obviously gutting to miss out on a medal.”

Wyatt added: “A mix of emotions, like Freya said, but we did what we did and just missed out.

“It was probably my best run [at the Games]. There were still some mistakes there but I just tried to do my best.”