Weston wins again in St Moritz
Matt Weston won a second successive World Cup skeleton gold as he claimed glory at the spiritual home of sliding in St Moritz.
Weston backed up last week’s win in Winterberg with a similarly dominant display in Switzerland.
The 27-year-old won his first World Championship title in Moritz two years ago and he again took top spot here by more than half a second in a 40-strong field in the penultimate World Cup race of the season.
Weston clocked a combined time of 2 minutes 14.61 seconds, beating reigning Olympic Champion Christopher Grotheer into silver by 0.54 seconds and stretching his lead at the top of the overall standings going into the final World Cup race of the year in Norway in early February.
It means he continues his remarkable record of medalling at every race he has entered this season and takes his total tally of career top tier golds into double figures.
Weston is looking to become the first British man to win back-to-back Overall World Cup crowns and he now knows that a 15th-place finish in the final race will be enough to retain the title.
“It’s definitely extra special to win here in St Moritz. It’s special no matter where you finish on this track because of the history but to come away with gold means a huge amount,” said Weston.
My confidence was high after last week and from medalling in every race but I put pressure on myself to keep these results up. I never just expect to medal - I have to work really, really hard with the team to be in a position to challenge when you’ve got such a strong field - but that’s the aim every week.
"I really enjoyed today - the support from friends and family was incredible - and I’m in a good place with a lot of confidence going into the next few races.
"Hopefully, I’ll come away with the overall title - that’s the main goal at the moment. To go into the World Championships in Lake Placid with the overall title won would be a big boost.”
Matt Weston won again in Moritz in World Cup Race 7
Marcus Wyatt, who won gold in Sigulda before Christmas and has four medals to his name this term, was eighth for the second week running in a time of 2 minutes 16.07 seconds.
Wyatt stays second in the standings (123 points behind Weston and 47 ahead of 2023 champion Grotheer in third) as he looks to improve on the overall third place finish he recorded two seasons ago.
Jacob Salisbury was 22nd in a time of 2.17.75 on his first World Cup appearance of the season.
Salisbury clocked start times of 4.87 seconds in each heat as he made the cut for the second run having stepped up from the second tier Europa Cup circuit this week.
The 29-year-old sat 25th at halfway but moved up three spots after going 0.15 seconds faster than his first run second time around.
In the women’s race, Tabby Stoecker just missed a medal as she finished fourth in a time of 2 minutes 19.20 seconds.
Stoecker came down 0.2 seconds clear of last year’s Overall World Cup Champion, Kimberley Bos, in fifth as she shattered the results from her two previous appearances in St Moritz. The 24-year-old was 21st at last year’s race and 23rd in the 2023 World Championships but she was just 0.28 seconds from bronze this time around.
Amelia Coltman came 11th and Freya Tarbit 17th in a 39-strong field as, like team mate Stoecker, they smashed their results from their only previous performance in Moritz when they were 24th and 28th respectively 12 months ago.
Coltman, who won gold in Race 1 in PyeongChang, clocked 2.19.98 and Tarbit, who took top spot in Race 2 at the same South Korean venue, totalled 2.20.35 across her two runs.
Austria’s Janine Flock won gold ahead of Belgium’s Kim Meylemans and Brazil’s Nicole Silveira. Flock now leads the overall standings by 90 points after back-to-back wins in Winterberg and Moritz. Olympic Champion Hannah Neise is second and Bos third with all three Brits in the top eight.
Coltman sits fifth, Tarbit seventh and Stoecket eighth ahead of the final World Cup race of the campaign.
You can watch the action live via the IBSF website or YouTube channel and follow the results and reaction on the BBSA’s Facebook, Instagram and X accounts.
