Standing at the top of the winding Cortina sliding track with Olympic gold in his sights, Matt Weston knew what he had to do.
Having laid the foundations for skeleton gold on Thursday – tidying up errors from his first run to produce a statement second, each time setting the track record – the Briton merely needed more of the same on Friday.
What he produced was not only a masterclass in sliding but also a remarkable display of composure and focus to clinch gold – Team GB’s first medal of the Games – and cement his place at the top of the sport.
“It means everything. It means a hell of a lot to me personally, I’ve worked so hard for this,” Weston told BBC Sport.
“But everyone back home – my fiancee, my family, my friends, everyone who has sacrificed everything for this. I’ve missed funerals, birthdays, everything for this moment. It feels amazing. Hopefully I made you proud.”
Weston set a track record on all four of his runs and could have eased off in his final attempt having already built a significant margin of 0.39 seconds, but ramped things up on what was ultimately a victory lap lasting 55.61secs, finishing with a sensational overall time of 3:43.33.
It left an almost impossible task for the chasing pack and Germany’s Axel Jungk finished 0.88secs behind to take silver, while compatriot and defending Olympic champion Christopher Grotheer secured bronze, 1.07secs behind Weston.
The pressure to deliver was there. The 28-year-old from Redhill was the heavy favourite to top the podium in Italy having dominated the sport in the past four-year cycle, but no British man had won an Olympic skeleton gold medal before.
He also carried the weight of Team GB teetering on the edge of overall disappointment at the Games, having been tipped for a record medal haul at Milan-Cortina but watching those ambitions begin to slip away.
Weston blocked out the noise of ‘helmet-gate’, of seeing his peer Vladyslav Heraskevych disqualified from the competition just moments before the first heat, and of the disaster that was Beijing 2022, where GB failed to win a skeleton medal for the first time since 2002.
He put it all aside to add the Olympic crown to his two World Championship titles and three Crystal Globes – the overall World Cup trophies.
Four years ago, it was a different story.
His overwhelming disappointment at missing out on the Olympic podium almost led to him quitting the sport and he told BBC Sport earlier this year he has had to teach himself to “love the pressure and expectation”.
From speaking to friends and family to knowing when to rest and eating lots of pasta, Weston has figured out the secret to his own success, and now he’s reaping the rewards.
