Weston & Wyatt win World gold & silver
Matt Weston and Marcus Wyatt made British history on Friday as they won World Championship gold and silver in Lake Placid.
No British pair had ever stood on the same World Championship podium since the top competition outside the Olympic Winter Games began in 1982 but Weston and Wyatt did just that in New York State.
Weston eased to gold as he built on his overnight lead to beat the rest of the field by a staggering 1.9 seconds to regain the title he first won in St Moritz in 2023.
The 28-year-old former taekwondo fighter and rugby player clocked a four-run time of 3 minutes 35.48 seconds to become the first British skeleton slider - male or female - to win multiple World Championship crowns as he put the disappointment of having to settle for silver in Winterberg last year behind him.
Having won the Overall World Cup title for points accumulated over eight top-tier races just a month ago, Weston made more history by becoming just the second British athlete to taste World Championship and Overall World Cup glory in the same season after Kristan Bromley in 2008.
He joins double Olympic Champion Lizzy Yarnold as the only Brit with three individual World Championship medals to his name, with his total tally reaching five thanks to back-to-back silvers in the team event in 2023 and 2024.
“I really wanted this one and it feels as good as I knew it would!” said Weston, who set a track record in Run 3 after temperatures dropped by around 15 degrees after yesterday’s first two runs.
My aim this season was to retain the Overall World Cup title and regain the World Championship one and to know that I’ve made history in doing that is pretty special.
“I was confident coming here after winning a medal in seven of the eight World Cup races and I put myself in a good spot after Day One, but I still had to go out there and do the business today. I’ve worked hard on my ability to stay calm and composed in between runs and on the sled itself and that definitely paid off again this week.
“And to have two Brits winning gold and silver is pretty amazing. I’m so pleased for Marcus after he just missed out last year. It makes today even more special getting to share it with a good mate who pushes me to be even better every single day. It bodes well for next year’s Olympics in Milan Cortina!”
Wyatt, who missed a World Championship medal by one hundredth of a second last season and was the exact same margin from retaining his European Championship crown in Lillehammer last month, came down in 3 minutes 37.38 seconds to finish 0.03 ahead of Germany’s Axel Jungk in third.
The 33-year-old from Devon won Overall World Cup silver behind his team-mate this season and he now becomes just the fourth British man to win an individual World Championship medal in 43 years after Bromley (gold in 2008), Adam Pengilly (silver in 2009) and Weston (gold in 2023 and ’25, silver in ’24).
“I’m delighted to finally have that World Champs medal - it’s a box ticked and it means a massive amount,” said Wyatt.
“I wanted gold but Matt was just outstanding over the past two days and no one really got close. It felt like I was racing for silver after Day One so today kind of feels like a win, especially when it was so close with Axel all the way through.
I’ve been on the podium consistently all season but to do that at the biggest event of the year and after coming so close before makes it extra special, to be honest.
“It’s been a great season for me individually and for the team as a whole and this is the icing on the proverbial cake.”
“I’m incredibly proud of both the boys. They’ve worked so hard, not just this season but over the whole Olympic cycle, and they are so deserving of this,” added Executive Performance Director Natalie Dunman.
“Credit, too, to the whole coaching and support team who have done a great job here and throughout the season. They’ve all put so much work into this and the emotion on everyone’s faces at the end of the race summed up just how much it means to them all.”
“They’ve shown through the season that they can be the best in the world but doing it at the World Championships is where it really counts. This is the one that mattered the most,” said Head Coach Matthias Guggenberger.
To be one, two here is what we wanted when we arrived so all the coaches are really happy with that.
“There’s still lots of work to do going into next year but this is a good way to build into Olympic season.”
Fellow Brit Laurence Bostock was 18th in a time of 3 minutes 39.81 seconds on his World Championship debut.
Ukraine’s Vladyslav Heraskevych finished fourth, 0.11 seconds behind Wyatt, with China’s Zheng Yin fifth and America’s Austin Florian sixth on home ice. Last year’s World Champion and the reigning Olympic king, Christopher Grotheer, could only finish seventh, 2.22 seconds shy of Weston.
There is a chance for more medals for both Wyatt and Weston in the early hours of Sunday morning when they each link up with one of their female colleagues, Tabby Stoecker, Amelia Coltman or Freya Tarbit, to compete in the team race.
Stoecker finished eighth in the women’s race on Friday evening, with Coltman 14th and Tarbit 18th. Stoecker climbed up from her overnight position of 14th as she clocked the fourth fastest times in Run 3 and Run 4.
The 24-year-old was also the fourth fastest in the first run on Thursday as she matched her finish position from last year’s Worlds in three quarters of this year’s competition.
Only a disappointing second run time that was just the 17th quickest ended her hopes of a medal before the final day.
Stoecker clocked a four-run time of 3 minutes 41.48 seconds, with Coltman registering 3.42.52 and Tarbit 3.43.50.
Kimberley Bos of the Netherlands, who won silver in St Moritz in 2023, took gold in 3.40.06, with America’s Mystique Ro second and Anna Fernstaedt of the Czech Republic third. Unlike Weston in the men’s race, this year’s Overall World Cup winner in the women’s field, Janine Flock, could only finish fifth despite registering the second fastest time in the final heat.
World Championship schedule
All times are GMT
Thurs 6 Mar & Fri 7 Mar
Men's Skeleton: Weston 1st; Wyatt 2nd; Bostock 18th
Women's Skeleton: Stoecker 8th; Coltman 14th; Tarbit 18th
Sat 8 Mar
2-man Bobsleigh Runs 1&2 2pm
Women's Monobob Runs 1&2 7pm
Sun 9 Mar
Skeleton Team Event 12am
2-man Bobsleigh Runs 3&4 2.30pm
Women's Monobob Runs 3&4 7.30pm
Sat 15 Mar
4-man Bobsleigh Runs 1&2 1pm
Women's Bobsleigh Runs 1&2 6pm
Sun 16 Mar
4-man Bobsleigh Runs 3&4 1pm
Women's Bobsleigh Runs 3&4 6pm
