To be good at skeleton, Matt Weston says, you need to be physically strong, boast cutting-edge equipment and know each track like the back of your hand.
Tabby Stoecker just says you need guts, and also to have a dream.
Their two contrasting approaches blended beautifully on Sunday night and what they achieved was undeniably out of this world.
Their mixed team skeleton gold medal dominated the front and back pages, and even led the News at 10, as Stoecker realised her dream and Weston became one of the all-time great British athletes, winter or summer, Olympic or otherwise.
The 28-year-old became the first Team GB athlete to win two medals at the same Olympic Winter Games, let alone two golds, with a final run that will live long in the nation’s memory.
He celebrated his individual title with just three slices of pizza. But there was no chance he and Stoecker were taking it easy after this most dramatic of victories.
“It was gone 4am, when we got to bed,” he said, hours after overturning a 0.30s deficit to win gold.
“We enjoyed ourselves and celebrated a little bit last night, you could say.
“We’re not known for being good drinkers, though, because we’re athletes. So, we’re not heavyweight, let’s put it that way.
“I think we’re just running on adrenaline at the moment and I think the buzz of having an Olympic gold medal on our necks. It’s going alright so far but I think I might be a bit tired later.”
If they were worse for wear, you would not have known it. They rolled through their following morning interviews as comfortably as they slid around the Cortina Sliding Centre.
The pair are close friends. Stoecker’s partner, Pat Atkin, is one of Matt’s best men for his July wedding.
She even knows where the stag do is when he doesn’t, but good luck trying to tie him to a lamppost.
“No matter how well I remember my taekwondo moves, they’re going to have some fun with me, I think,” he laughed.
“We’ve missed a lot in terms of the sacrifices we have to make to get to this point, so to celebrate with some of my closest friends and people like that, just to go on a stag do.
“We’ve been very sensible for the past four or five years, concentrating on this, and not really had that much chance to let loose, so I’m looking forward to that.”
First, he needs to have shoulder surgery.
Weston revealed his body has been in bits ahead of these Games. If he were 100%, lord only knows how fast he could really have gone.
“For a year or so, I’ve needed surgery,” he said.
“But we’ve been holding out until after the Games. My hip is done. I could list a whole load of issues with my whole body.
“If you X-Rayed me, you’d probably find a hundred problems. I need to let my body rest, my brain rest, and have a little time to myself and me and my fiancée. Just chill out really.”
Stoecker’s phone has been buzzing constantly, but she is yet to go through her messages.
“I turned it on briefly and that was just so overwhelming,” she said.
“It feels like everyone I’ve ever met is messaging me with just kind words.
“The kindness of people in moments like this is, it’s just been so touching, and to have everybody behind us, to know that there was just that whole nation watching and believing, it, it seemed amazing.”
Weston says 3,500 people have signed up to have a go at skeleton since the last Olympics in Beijing. After dominating the prime-time Sunday night TV slots, and the news cycle today, you would imagine it will quickly become a whole lot more.
Stoecker’s run was excellent, her best of the week and to leave them fourth at the half-way point, before Weston flew around the track to jump them to the top of the leaderboard.
“Skeleton is not always the most watched outside of the Games,” she added.
“For our World Cups, for our World Champs, we’ve been really successful, but maybe don’t not as much recognition as maybe other sports get.
“So to have this moment at the Olympic Winter Games with the whole nation behind us, being front page on the news, having all the attention; it’s not just for us, it is for all those people who might be inspired by what we’ve done in any way.
“Whether it’s just being active, or getting into a sport, or getting into skeleton. So, for me, that just feels so impactful, and, hopefully, that will last way longer than we will.”
If Torvill and Dean are anything to go by, Weston’s two performances will last forever.
His life is unlikely to be quite the same again, with sponsorship deals, commercial partnerships and VIP tickets to the hottest parties in town surely on the way.
“Two golds was the goal, but to actually achieve it is pretty special,” he said.
“I’m not quite sure how my life it’s going to change because, like I said before, I’ve been keeping off socials, keeping off my phone.
“But I’ve definitely noticed a bit of a buzz.”
That might be the biggest understatement of all.
Sportsbeat 2026