Weston and Wyatt eager to uphold skeleton dynasty

Skeleton 09 Feb 22

Team GB have won medals at all seven Games at which skeleton has featured, including all five since it was reintroduced to the programme in 2002.

And Day 6 heralds the start of the discipline at Beijing 2022 with Matt Weston and Marcus Wyatt the first Brits to take to the Yanqing National Sliding Centre.

Wyatt is aiming to continue the stellar skeleton legacy at the Games and will favour a steady approach with the Olympics contested over four runs rather than the typical two at World Cup races.

"I like to think one of my strengths is my consistency,” he said.

“What we’ve seen from the track is that it's a difficult track to be consistent on, people were making mistakes and rather than another track when it might cost you a tenth of a second, it would cost you half a second. 

“The results were really up and down. The key for the Olympics is going to be four good, solid runs, you can't get away with two amazing runs and two further down the field. 

“Those time gaps from those worse ones are going to cause you drop down much further. The track is so unique and so unusual, the whole thing put together is really different."

Wyatt, who was lining up a career in semi-pro American football before falling into sliding, won silver in the test event back in October.

And the 30-year-old from Devon is aiming to replicate Dom Parsons, who took bronze in PyeongChang, by making it onto the podium but admit it's a wide-open event.

"It doesn't suit anyone, it's a really level playing field with the fact we've only had that one training period in October," he said.

“It's going to be a really open race, it's not suiting anyone's style because it's so different."

Matt Weston knows China will be a threat on home territory but does not fear any of his opponents as he looks to slide into the record books this week.

"We’ve only had 40 runs down the track, they’ve probably had 400, even more to be honest,” he said.

“They’re going to be consistent, they’ve got some good talent in some of their pushes. But you’ve got to be on the money every time.

“In my head, it doesn’t matter who I’m racing. You’ve got to have blinkers on and focus on what I need to do and the results should come.”

Weston was the first Brit to win World Cup gold - he tied with two rivals at Igls in November - for 13 years and is taking heart from Team GB's esteemed heritage in his sport rather than feeling the pressure.

“You can’t write us off,” he said. “I feel like we're in a very strong position coming here.

“There is a pressure but I like to think of it as a comfort. We have that success and history of winning medals and for me, it’s comforting because I know the staff have been here before, the team, and we know how to perform every four years. I take a lot of confidence from it.”