Who is Matt Weston? The athlete who has won Team GB's first gold at Winter Olympics

Matt Weston won gold in the men's singles skeleton competition, securing Team GB its first medal at the Winter Olympics in Italy.

The 28-year-old had been the favourite for gold after leading at the halfway stage of the event on Thursday, with track records in the first two heats.

On Friday, the world and European champion posted another track record on his third run - recording a 0.39-second advantage at the top of the leaderboard before bringing the gold home in his final heat at the Milano Cortina Games.

Who is Matt Weston?

Born in Tunbridge Wells, Kent, Weston started out his sporting career in a completely different discipline.

He practised taekwondo up until the age of 17, winning medals at UK-based events and international honours whilst representing England abroad.

At the taekwondo European Cup in 2012 he won both gold and silver, adding a silver and bronze to his collection at the International Taekwondo Federation World Cup in 2014 before retiring from the sport aged 17 due to a fracture in his back.

Right until he started the selection process for British Skeleton, he also played rugby, previously representing Kent as well as his local team Sevenoaks RFC and a Saracens Academy College.

His introduction to skeleton came via the British Skeleton Discover Your Gold talent identification scheme following a suggestion from his weightlifting coach, Chris Dear.

Speaking to Sky News sports presenter Jacquie Beltrao, Weston said it takes a "certain type of person" to take part in Skeleton.

"To get over that fear when you first start and you go down and you have no brakes," he said.

"Whether you have a good run, a bad run, you crash or don't crash, you are going to the bottom because it's just sheet ice. Once you get over the fear and apprehension about that, it's so much fun."

From beginner to Olympian

Weston made his debut in skeleton in 2019. Before then he completed a tense training period with the Royal Marines, which was designed to test his physical and mental fitness.

He finished 15th in his debut race on the Europa Cup in Winterberg, Germany, closely followed by a silver medal in Igls, Austria, and bronze in Altenberg, Germany, just a month later.

By 2020 Weston was competing on the World Cup circuit and in November 2021 he won gold for Great Britain, the first men's World Cup win in skeleton for almost 14 years.

Just over two years after he made his debut, he competed as an Olympian at the Beijing winter games in 2022.

In 2023, and paired with six-time world champion Martins Dukurs as a coach, Weston made major gains on both European and world stages.

He won the European title in January 2023 and a week later became world champion, taking the crown by a staggering 1.49 seconds.

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Weston started the 2025/26 season recovering from a thigh injury, but this didn't hold him back.

In March 2025 he took his second world champion crown and in January of this year - only a month before the start of the Olympics - he clinched his third successive overall World Cup title.

He remains the UK's most decorated slider at the world championship level.

(c) Sky News 2026: Who is Matt Weston? The athlete who has won Team GB's first gold at Winter Olympics