Great Britain are celebrating another gold and silver medal haul on the men’s skeleton World Cup circuit after Marcus Wyatt beat Matt Weston to top spot in Sigulda on Saturday.
Wyatt secured his first win of the season 24 hours after Weston pipped him to gold at the same track.
Former American Footballer Wyatt became the first man to beat Weston this season after his team-mate had won in Cortina and Lillehammer prior to the double race week in Latvia.
Wyatt clocked a two-run time of 1 minute 41.37 seconds to finish 14 hundredths of a second clear of Weston and just over half a second ahead of China’s Zheng Yin in third.
The win was Wyatt’s second in Sigulda in two seasons and three races after he took gold ahead of Weston exactly 12 months ago. It also reversed the result of last season’s showpiece event, the World Championships in Lake Placid, when Weston and Wyatt became the first British men to stand on the same podium at a global championships.
It moves him up to third in the world rankings behind only Weston and Yin as the circuit heads into the Christmas break prior to the final three races of the World Cup season in Winterberg, St Moritz and Altenberg in January.
“I’m really happy with today. I was happy with my second run yesterday and with second place but I knew the win was possible,” said Wyatt, who was the fastest starter in Run 1 and the third quickest in Run 2.
I wanted to give Matt a better race than I did yesterday and I came in with the mindset of knowing that, if I pushed fast and executed, the win would be there.
“My pushing really surprised me so I was really happy with that and I felt like I put down two pretty good runs.
“It’s a great bonus going into Christmas and it means confidence is high. Results have been trending in the right direction after a bit of a shaky start in Cortina.
“It’s back for Christmas now, try and get some rest and see the family, then get out to Winterberg ready for the last three World Cups before we head to the Olympics.”
The third Brit in the 32-strong field, Jacob Salisbury, finished 17thin a time of 1 minute 42.85. Salisbury, who was 26th in yesterday’s race, was the second quickest in Run 2 to ensure he jumped up four spots from his first run position of 21st.
British Skeleton leave Sigulda having won six medals across the two men’s and two women’s races, with Tabby Stoecker winning women’s silver on Thursday and Amelia Coltman claiming bronze on Friday to go with the two golds and two silvers shared by Wyatt and Weston.