GB’s Weston wins World Cup opener on Olympics track

Great Britain’s Matt Weston kicked off his skeleton World Cup campaign in perfect fashion by winning Friday’s opening race of the season in Cortina.

The 28-year-old finished 0.15 seconds ahead of Austria’s Samuel Maier after the two runs to earn his 10th World Cup gold medal.

Weston’s start times of 4.78 and 4.76 seconds were only 24th and 18th quickest in the pack, leaving him with an uphill struggle to make the podium.

But two-time world champion Weston made up the deficit through the 16-corner track, to win with a time of one minute and 53.84 seconds and claim his 21st podium finish in his past 25 races.

with a time of one minute and 53.84 seconds in Cortina.

A hamstring injury saw Weston miss a pre-season training camp in Norway.

“I’m not able to push at anywhere near my usual pace but I feel like I’ve really clicked with the track and that showed,” said Weston.

“To start 24th and then 18th but still get the win proves that my sliding was on point even though I’ve missed out on a lot of ice time because of the injury.”

Weston was particularly pleased with his victory because it came at the venue that will be used in February’s Winter Olympic Games.

“It’s been an incredible two or three weeks here – it’s an amazing venue and a really interesting track – and I’m already looking forward to trying to match today’s result when we come back for the big one,” said Weston.

“I know that this result won’t mean anything come the Olympics but it’s a great way to start the season and it will definitely give me confidence when we come back here in February.”