British Skeleton started the new year with World Cup gold as Matt Weston won in Winterberg on Friday morning.
Weston, who became the country’s first men’s Overall World Cup Champion for 16 years last season, beat the rest of the field by more than half a second in Germany.
The 27-year-old clocked 1 minute 53.12 seconds at the track where he won World Championship silver a year ago.
Weston sat second by four hundredths of a second after the first run before blowing the field away in the final heat after improving from the seventh best start in Run 1 to the quickest in Run 2.
He adds gold to three silvers and two bronze from the first five races of the 2024/25 campaign and now takes over from team mate Marcus Wyatt at the head of the World Cup standings with two races remaining.
Weston tops the table with 1255 points, with Wyatt second with 1197 and reigning World and Olympic Champion Christopher Grotheer third with 1100.
“It feels good, very good! What a way to start the new year!” said Weston.
I’ve been really consistent, with medals in every race of this season, but it’s been a while since I won gold and I desperately wanted one today. To get that in the first race after Christmas means it’s pretty much a dream start to 2025.
“The weather was pretty unpredictable and tough to deal with, especially in Run 1. Marcus got dealt a bad hand and it was really difficult to get a good push out of the spur because of the snow.
“I was really happy with Run 2: it was really smooth and I pushed well when it mattered most.
“I’m determined to retain my World Cup title and I want my World Championship crown back so today is a decent confidence boost.”
Today’s win makes it back-to-back men’s golds for Great Britain after Wyatt pipped Weston to first place in Sigulda before Christmas.
It takes British Skeleton’s World Cup medal total to 14 this term, eclipsing the historic tally they set in 2022/23.
Wyatt finished eighth in Winterberg today, 1.6 seconds behind Weston, with fellow Brit Laurence Bostock 16th in a 39-strong field on his first World Cup start since 2022.
Austria’s Samuel Maier took silver 0.58 seconds shy of Weston as Grotheer won bronze on home ice. Ukraine’s Vladyslav Heraskevych matched his career best by finishing fourth.
Amelia Coltman, Tabby Stoecker and Freya Tarbit go for GB in the women’s race at 12pm GMT, before two of the men and two women compete in the team race at 5pm. Great Britain won gold in the first of four planned team races this season when Wyatt and Stoecker took top spot in Altenberg last month.
Bobsleigh takes central stage over the weekend, with two British teams entered in the 2-man event on Saturday before the women’s and 4-man action on Sunday.
The circuit heads to St Moritz in Switzerland next week, with skeleton action scheduled for Friday morning and afternoon at the spiritual home of sliding.
You can watch the action live via theIBSF websiteorYouTube channeland follow the results and reaction on the BBSA’sFacebook,InstagramandXaccounts.