Winter Olympics 2022: Team GB men's skeleton medal hopes in doubt after 'extremely punishing' first two heats in Beijing
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BySam Webb
Updated 10/02/2022 at 07:09 GMT
Team GB has a track record of success in Olympic skeleton, having won a medal at every Games since 2002, but their medal hopes in Beijing are hanging in the balance after the first two heats as Matt Weston and Marcus Wyatt sit 13th and 17th. The two Brits will hope to avoid further errors in their next runs as they look to close the gap on world champion Christopher Grotheer.
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Great Britain’s hopes of a medal in the men’s skeleton look in doubt, with Matt Weston and Marcus Wyatt sitting 13th and 17th respectively after the first two heats in Beijing.
World champion Christopher Grotheer of Germany holds a solid lead of 0.7 seconds ahead of his countryman Axel Jungk, while China's Yan Wengang trails by 0.75 seconds in third place.
Grotheer took an early lead at Yanqing National Sliding Centre, with 11-time World Cup winner Martins Dukurs of Latvia initially going into fourth place, 0.62 seconds behind the German.
After two heats, Dukurs finds himself 0.91 seconds off the lead pace with his brother, Tomass, 1.22 back.
Britain’s Weston made several errors during his first run, leaving him 1.34 seconds off the leader, while fellow Brit Wyatt sat 1.56 seconds back after his first.
The pair needed to make up time if they were to be in with a good chance of finishing in a medal position but are now more than two seconds behind current leader Grotheer.
After his runs, Weston said the track was "extremely punishing".
He said: "Normally if you make a mistake on a track you might lose a couple of hundredths, maybe a tenth of a second.
"You make a mistake here and it's like half a second here, half a second there, so it's really punishing."
Wyatt finished second at a test event in October and will undoubtedly be unsatisfied with 17th as one of the few international athletes who have experienced success at the sliding track for the Winter Olympics in Beijing.
The final heats will take place on Friday, when the women’s skeleton will begin.
Laura Dees will be in action for GB, who won bronze in Pyeongchang four years ago, as will Brogan Crowley.
Neither of the two have troubled the top 10 in their training runs, however.
Despite Team GB’s track record of success in Olympic skeleton, having won a medal at every Games since 2002, their medal hopes in Beijing are looking shaky.
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