Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on February 20, 2026
4 min readLast updated: April 3, 2026
Add as preferred source on GoogleMatt Weston, newly crowned double Olympic skeleton champion, says he’s still processing his singles and mixed-team golds at Cortina 2026. Team GB’s historic day also featured Bankes and Nightingale’s snowboard cross title.
By Mitch Phillips
CORTINA D'AMPEZZO, Italy, Feb 20 (Reuters) - Double Olympic skeleton champion Matt Weston is one of the most articulate athletes you could ever meet but, even five days on from becoming the only Briton to win two medals at the same Winter Olympics, he says he is still lost for words.
"I feel like I've had a lifetime since kitting out four weeks ago, everything's gone so crazy," he told Reuters in an interview at the adidas HQ in the mountains above Cortina on Friday.
"There has been so much that's happened to me and the team, it's just been absolutely mental. The fact that I'm sat here with two gold medals around my neck - I'm just lost for words."
Weston followed Amy Williams (2010) and Lizzy Yarnold (2014 and 2018) as British skeleton singles gold medallists then teamed up with Tabby Stoecker to win a dramatic gold in the first running of the Mixed Team event.
That cemented Britain's place as the dominant force in the skeleton at the Olympics, despite the country not boasting a track, and has created a huge buzz at home with thousands of people enquiring about trying the 80mph sport.
"The fact that people have watched me and been inspired to actually go and apply is very surreal, but I'm so proud to be a part of that," said Weston, who discovered the sport through a British Olympic Association talent ID programme.
The team gold came hours after Huw Nightingale and Charlotte Bankes won Snowboard Cross Mixed Team gold to make it the first time Britain had won two Winter Olympic golds on the same day.
"I like the fact that it's similar to Super Saturday at London 2012," he said. "That was a massive inspiration for me and watching some of those amazing athletes do some of those amazing things was part of the reason why I'm here today.
"So, Slippery Sunday – I've not heard that, but let's go with it - I wanted to have my name up with those guys and hopefully win medals so it's a massive honour and I'm so proud to be here."
SUCCESSIVE TRACK RECORDS
Weston, who came into the Games on the back of three World Cup overall titles in a row, was peerless in the singles as he racked up four successive track records.
It was not so straightforward in the relay though as he began the second leg in fourth place, only to deliver another silky performance to clinch gold.
Weston, however, said he had no idea of the team's position as he waited to start his run. "I deliberately kept myself away from all that," he said. "I got to the line and deliberately tilted my helmet down just enough that I couldn't see the times and all I had to focus on was me."
That calmness has been one of the products of starting work with a sports psychologist after the disappointment of his 15th-placed finish at the Beijing Olympics, and Weston, 28, said ahead of these Games that he had learned to embrace the pressure that comes with being world number one.
"I definitely approached the race with way more calmness and way more collectiveness than I ever thought I would," he said. "I obviously still had the nerves and a bit of excitement because it's the Olympics, but the mental side of things massively helped."
Someone else who might need some psychological support is Weston's friend and long-time rival Marcus Wyatt, who finished an agonising fourth in the relay alongside Freya Tarbit.
"I'm super-gutted for those guys," Weston said. "They are amazing athletes and we are such a tight squad as well, so to just miss a medal by 12 hundredths, and 13 hundredths to silver... they can all hold their heads so high.
"Just because I've got the medals around my neck doesn't mean it's all down to me. It's a massive team behind me and also my teammates are part of that and I think the whole nation back home is so proud of every single one of us."
(Reporting by Mitch Phillips, editing by Christian Radnedge)
British skeleton star Matt Weston reflects on his double-gold success at the Milan–Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics and the rapid attention that followed.
He teamed up with Tabby Stoecker to win the inaugural Olympic mixed team skeleton event, securing Britain’s second gold on a historic day.
Weston became the first Briton to win two medals at a single Winter Olympics, underscoring the UK’s strength in skeleton and boosting interest in the sport at home.
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