As soon as skeleton sleds hit the ice at Milan Cortina 2026, the only person who could beat Matt Weston was himself. 

Weston did so four times, setting a new track record on each of his runs on his way to claiming an utterly dominant Olympic skeleton gold for Great Britain at Cortina Sliding Centre on Friday. 

RESULTS

Nearly nine tenths of a second back was Beijing 2022 silver medalist Axel Jungk, who kept his stronghold on the No. 2 spot to grab a repeat silver. 

Defending Olympic gold medalist Christopher Grotheer finished third to add a bronze medal to his trophy case. China's Chen Wenhao made his mark as the competition's dark horse, finishing 4th and 0.19 seconds out of a medal position in his Olympic debut.

It was Team GB’s first medal of the Milan Cortina Games and their first gold since the women’s curling team won at Beijing 2022. It was also the third skeleton gold for the nation but first for a male athlete, adding to Lizzy Yarnold’s two golds in the women’s event at Sochi 2014 and PyeongChang 2018. 

Weston's Olympic gold triumph capped off a rapid ascension that saw him go from finishing 15th at Beijing 2022 to winning three consecutive overall world cup titles and two world championships. 

“It's an actual dream. I literally cannot put into words what this means," Weston told reporters at Cortina Sliding Centre. "It means obviously a hell of a lot for me but (also) everyone who had to sacrifice for me to be here, my fiancée, everyone like that. 

“I’ve missed funerals, birthdays, everything to be here for this moment. Hopefully I did everyone at home proud.”

A large contingent of Team USA fans watched Austin Florian and Dan Barefoot make their Olympic event debuts on Thursday and Friday.

Florian, a native of Southington, Connecticut, said in an interview on the NBC broadcast that he had 13 family members in Italy watching him realize his dream on the world stage. 

Clad in a helmet depicting Marvel character Venom, Florian set two start records and improved on each of his runs on his way to setting a personal-best 56.51. He finished in 12th.

Barefoot, a full-time engineer who picked up skeleton well into his adult years, finished in 20th.

Following the women's final runs on Saturday, Feb. 14, Weston will likely have a chance to go for gold again in the Olympic debut of the skeleton mixed team event on Sunday, Feb. 15.