Matt Weston wipes track with rivals to roar to historic Olympic skeleton gold

Matt Weston reeled off consecutive four track records as he obliterated his rivals to roar to Olympic skeleton gold in Cortina.

The British star claimed victory by a cumulative total of 0.88 seconds over his four runs, ahead of German pair Alex Jungk and Christopher Grotheer, who took silver and bronze respectively.

The dual world champion had dominated from the beginning of the competition, setting track records in both of his first two runs at the Cortina Sliding Centre on Thursday.

And he nervelessly extended his advantage over the two concluding heats on Friday to become only the second British man to reach the podium since the sport was restored to the Olympic programme in 2002.

Weston, who celebrated by draping himself in a Union Flag, said: “(It means) everything. It means a hell of a lot to me personally, I have worked so hard for this.

“Everyone back at home, my fiancee, my family, my friends, everyone that has sacrificed for me to be here. I have missed funerals, birthdays, everything for this moment and it feels amazing.”

It was a stunning response from Weston who went to Cortina as a big favourite for gold after dominating the World Cup season, winning five of the seven races, with the other two going to his Great Britain team-mate Marcus Wyatt, who finished a disappointing ninth.