Weston leads at halfway

Matt Weston leads the men’s skeleton at the halfway mark at the Olympic Winter Games in Italy.

Weston tops the standings by 0.3 seconds with two of the four runs complete in Cortina.

The 29-year-old set track records in each of his heats, coming down in 56.21 seconds in Run 1 and going even quicker with 55.88 Run 2.

Weston was just 0.06 seconds clear of Germany’s Axel Jungk after the first lauf (having admitted he made a mistake in the opening stretch of the track), but he increased that lead by nearly a quarter of a second next time out as he clocked the only time under 56 seconds across 25 sliders and 50 runs.

Reigning Olympic Champion, Christopher Grotheer, holds the final podium position, 0.46 seconds shy of Weston, with Team GB’s Marcus Wyatt 0.67 seconds adrift of the medal places in seventh ahead of Runs 3 and 4 tomorrow evening.

“There’s still things that I can improve on, which I think is an extremely lucky and fortunate place to be,” said Weston, the current, back-to-back World Champion and Overall World Cup winner.

I’m a perfectionist: I want to improve, I want to chase, there’s still things that I can get time out of. There’s definitely some bits to clean up.

"I was quite annoyed after the first run. I made an error in 1 and that carried into corners 2 and 3 and it was quite costly. I was pretty glad that I was able to fix it in Run 2.

"I will completely reset now, switch off for a bit and then re-focus tomorrow ahead of the final two runs.

Luckily, I have been in this situation on more than one occasion at a major championships where I have had the overnight lead. I am used to it, I know how to act and hopefully tomorrow should be fun.

"I have taught myself to love the pressure and love the expectation I have on my shoulders. I didn't like it when I first had success, but now I have turned it into a positive that helps me go out and give my best."

Weston will be hoping that his best will bring about a first ever Olympic gold in the men’s event for Great Britain.

Amy Williams (2010) and Lizzy Yarnold (2014 and 2018) previously claimed the ultimate crown in the women’s competition but no British man has ever finished higher than third at an Olympic Winter Games.

Weston and Wyatt have an unusually long wait for Runs 3 and 4, with the second day of action not kicking off until 6.30pm GMT (7.30pm CET).

Amelia Coltman, Tabby Stoecker and Freya Tarbit start their individual Olympic campaign before the men finish theirs tomorrow, with the first two races of the women’s event scheduled for 3pm GMT (4pm CET).

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