Matt Weston crowned Britain’s first male skeleton champion in 15 years

Matt Weston has been crowed Britain’s first men’s skeleton world champion in 15 years after dominating in St Moritz over two days of competition.

Weston was leading at the halfway stage on Thursday after the opening two runs and extended that advantage on his final two runs on Friday for a 1.79-second winning margin.

It was the biggest winning margin since his coach Martins Dukurs back in 2012 and saw Weston emulate the feat of being a British male world champion previously only achieved by Kristan Bromley in 2008.

But there was agony for British teammate Craig Thompson, who missed out on a medal by a hundredth of a second, while the third Brit in the field, Marcus Wyatt took fifth place.

Following the win, Weston, who last week had been crowned European champion, said: “It’s an amazing feeling. It’s an absolute dream to be world champion. I can’t really describe it to be honest. It’s pretty special.

“I knew that I had a good chance after winning the last two World Cups in Altenberg but to actually come here and make it a reality is incredible. To do it at the birthplace of the sport as well makes it even more memorable.

“I’m gutted for Craig that he just missed bronze but it’s been a brilliant week for all of us – three in the top five is awesome. It’s been a brilliant season so far but this is something else.”