Wyatt & Weston win Gold & Silver
Great Britain won gold and silver in the last Skeleton World Cup competition of the year as Marcus Wyatt took top spot ahead of team-mate Matt Weston in Latvia.
The gold, silver success in Sigulda is just the second time British men have occupied the top two spots in a World Cup race, with the only other occasion being when Weston won gold and Wyatt silver at the same track two seasons ago.
Today’s victory was the second World Cup win of Wyatt’s career, with the former university American Footballer having previously triumphed in Whistler, Canada in November 2022.
GB have now won a staggering 13 World Cup medals in the five men’s and women’s and the single Team event so far this season. That matches the historic tally they secured in 2022/23 and already eclipses their World Cup collection from the whole of the 2023/24 campaign.
Wyatt added gold in Sigulda to the two silver medals he won in PyeongChang, South Korea last month and to the bronze he claimed in Altenberg, Germany last weekend as he moved to the top of the world rankings with just over half of the season’s eight World Cup races complete.
The 33-year-old won the European Championships with a second place World Cup finish behind China’s Zheng Yin in Sigulda last season but he was a clear winner this time as he beat Weston by a quarter of a second in a two-run time of 1 minute 39.51 seconds.
Wyatt was the fastest starter in both heats as he twice clocked a time of 4.52 seconds and he recorded the quickest down time in each run, too, with a 49.59 effort in Run 1 and 49.92 in Run 2.
Weston was quicker than everybody else apart from his team-mate, both in terms of start times and down times, as he clocked 4.54 seconds for each of his starts and 49.79 followed by 49.97 in Run 1 and 2 respectively.
Today’s silver saw Weston continue his record of a medal in every World Cup race of the season as he built on a pair of bronze medals in PyeongChang and successive silvers in Beijing and Altenberg.
It means Great Britain head into the Christmas break with the top two sliders in the world, with Wyatt seven points clear of Weston after previous points leader Christopher Grotheer missed today’s racing.
The third British man in today’s race, Craig Thompson, finished 12th after moving up three sports in Run 2.
"I felt confident, but there was definitely some pressure, too. The races have been super close with me, Matt and Christopher (Grotheer) so far this year. We’ve pushed each other really close every race.
"I knew I was capable of winning but knew I would have to do a really good job to beat Matt," said Wyatt, who now has 10 World Cup race medals to his name, including a gold last week in the team event with Tabby Stoecker.
Sigulda’s a tough, technical track and it’s super difficult when the ice is as fast as it was today.
"I’ve got the yellow leader’s bib for the next race in Winterberg so it’s cool to be back in that for the first time in a couple of years.
"I guess the aim now is to build on what’s been an incredible first five races of the season. I want to keep winning and I couldn’t be much happy with how things are going after today."
In the women’s event, Amelia Coltman made the wider podium, with Freya Tarbit eighth and Stoecker ninth respectively.
Coltman, who won the season opener in South Korea in November, clocked a combined time of 1 minute 43.24 seconds to miss the medal places by 11 hundredths of a second.
Tarbit finished in 1.43.58, just one hundredth ahead of Stoecker, who was the fastest in the field in Run 2 having been 15th first time around.
The British trio all end 2024 in the top seven of the world standings, with Tarbit fourth, Coltman sixth and Stoecker seventh ahead of the New Year.
Kimberley Bos of the Netherlands took gold ahead of Austria’s Janine Flock and Kim Meylemans of Belgium in today’s race but Germany’s Olympic Champion, Hannah Neise, still leads the overall rankings ahead of Bos and Flock.
The next Skeleton World Cup action takes place in Winterberg, Germany on Friday, January 3rd but there is British involvement in the 2-man Bobsleigh racing in Sigulda tomorrow and Sunday.
