Matt Weston soars to World Cup gold in Altenberg
BySportsbeat
Updated 13/01/2023 at 21:21 GMT
Matt Weston won the fifth race of the season in the BMW IBSF World Cup in Altenberg. Ranked fifth after the first of the two race runs, Weston still slid to victory in Altenberg with best time in the second run. It was the second win of the season and the fourth podium finish in the fifth race for the Briton.
Matt Weston of the United Kingdom compete in the Men's Skeleton during the BMW IBSF Bob & Skeleton World Cup at the Veltins-EisArena on January 6, 2023 in Winterberg, Germany.
Image credit: Getty Images
Matt Weston pulled off a stunning second run to claim men's skeleton World Cup gold in Altenberg.
The Beijing Olympian ended the first run in fifth, just 0.08 seconds off Germany's Christopher Grotheer in the lead.
Weston produced the fastest time of the second run to claim gold, 0.14 seconds ahead of Grotheer with Axel Jungk of Germany completing the podium.
The sliders could not be separated after the first run with Grotheer's time of 56.11 leading the way and Jung Seung-gi of South Korea, China's Wenhao Chen and Weston's fellow Brit Marcus Wyatt all breathing down his neck, Wyatt sitting sixth after a time of 56.47.
None of the top six could improve on their first run times but Wyatt was the most consistent, going just 0.06 seconds slower in his second run in Germany.
Weston, meanwhile, had a nervous wait to first claim his place on the podium and then gold as Jung and Chen slipped down the rankings.
Victory in Altenberg is Weston's third World Cup gold of his career having claimed his first triumph in a three-way tie in Innsbruck in 2021.
In the women's event, Tina Hermann dominated on home ice to claim the women's skeleton title by over a second.
The four-time world champion claimed the lead after a sparkling first run, ending 1.04 seconds ahead of compatriot Susanne Kreher in second with last week's winner Kimberley Bos claiming third.
Hermann was not able to improve on her time of 58.05 in the second run but was still the fastest slider down the Alterberg track by almost 0.2 seconds as she claimed her third World Cup title in Altenberg where she has also won three World Championship medals.
Great Britain's Laura Deas moved from ninth up to fifth after a positive second run that saw her post the third-fastest time of the run, missing out on fourth by 0.04 seconds to Mirela Rahneva of Canada.
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