The quest for Olympic gold often demands sacrifice, but for Team GB skeleton star Matt Weston, it also comes with an unusual perk: buying beer.
At the Milan Cortina Games, Weston teamed up with Tabby Stoecker to capture the mixed team skeleton title on Sunday, just 48 hours after Weston clinched individual gold. In the process, Weston shattered five track records—each one earning him the tradition of treating the track’s staff to a crate of beer.
“For those unfamiliar, every time a track record is broken, the athlete buys a crate of beers for the track workers,” Weston explained. “I broke five records in five runs. That’s a lot of beer—pretty insane, actually. I’ve got to supply quite a bit.”
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Weston and Stoecker’s win capped a brilliant day for Team GB, following Charlotte Bankes and Huw Nightingale’s gold in mixed snowboard cross—the first ever Winter Olympic gold on snow for Britain. After nine days of competition in Italy, Team GB sat 12th in the medal table with these historic victories.
Backed by strong performances in the lead-up, Weston came to the Games as the favorite and lived up to the hype with dominant performances in both individual and team events.
“The individual gold has a special place in my heart—it’s everything you dream of as an athlete in this sport,” Weston said. “But winning the team event was another target. I treated it like a five-heat race, focused on cleaning up any mistakes from the individual run, playing it safe and consistent. It was enough to bring home two golds.”
Meanwhile, Tabby Stoecker from North London shared her excitement: “It was everything you dream of but don’t always believe will happen. I stayed present and focused on improving my run from the day before. I’m just so happy with this outcome.”