Weston wins third World Cup in a row
Matt Weston added another World Cup Skeleton gold to his World Championship crown as he won in Igls on Friday afternoon.
Weston tasted global glory in St Moritz a fortnight ago when he became the first British man to win the world title in 15 years and he built on that performance with another outstanding showing in Austria.
Having been in a three-way tie for gold in Igls last season, the 25-year-old set two track records on his way to a third World Cup win in a row and a fourth so far this season.
British coach Martins Dukurs had set the previous best run of 51.88 seconds in 2017 but Weston went 0.33 seconds faster in his first heat and then a further 14 hundredths quicker second time around to take almost half a second off the six year record.
Weston clocked a combined time of 1 minute 42.96 seconds as he finished 0.36 seconds ahead of South Korean silver medalist Seunggi Jung and 0.49 clear of China’s Wenhao Chen in third.
It moves him up to second in the overall World Cup standings with one race of the season still to come in Sigulda next Friday. Germany’s Olympic Champion Christopher Grotheer still heads the race for the Crystal Globe after finishing fourth in Igls.
“I’m over the moon with result today. That’s three World Cups in a row now and I can’t really describe it,” said Weston, who previously took gold in Lake Placid in December and in Altenberg on back-to-back weekends in January.
“If you’d have told me this last year, I would have told you you were lying. It feels amazing.
To top it off with a track record makes it even better. I’m not sure my coach will be too happy because I took the track record from him but I’m definitely pleased with it!
“It had been a tough week to be honest. I found it hard getting back in the groove after a week off after winning the Worlds. It was quite an emotionally draining experience with the incredible highs and then the media work so it was tough to get back into my rhythm. I was able to by race day, though.
“We’ve still got another race left next week in Sigulda and I really, really like that track. I’m getting closer to Grotheer in the standings so we’ll keep chasing and see how we go next week.”
Marcus Wyatt is just a single point from overall bronze after slipping back from the silver medal position as he placed ninth in today’s race in a time of 1 minute 43.81 seconds.
Team-mate Craig Thompson, who was fourth at the World Championships when Wyatt was fifth, was 12th today in a time of 1.44.25.
In the women’s race, Laura Deas made the wider podium as she finished sixth at the same venue.
Deas sat 13th at halfway but jumped up seven spots after producing the second fastest time in her second run. Only race winner Kimberley Bos (who moved up an incredible 11 places) went quicker in Run 2 as Deas came down in 53.24 seconds for a combined time of 1.46.78, a tenth of a second from a second bronze medal of the season.
Fellow Brit Brogan Crowley was equal fifth after the first run but slipped down the order in Run 2 to finish 12th in a time of 1.47.06.
America’s Hallie Clarke and Belgium’s Kim Meylemans took silver and bronze respectively, with World Cup points leader Tina Hermann down in 10th. Crowley sits 10th in the standings and Deas 12th.
