From Cortina d’Ampezzo, ITA
(February 12, 2026) – It looked like it would be a close race for the lead after the first heat in men’s skeleton, but as he has so many times before Matt Weston put down a big second run to open up a sizeable lead on the field, this time in the Olympic Games.
Weston was the first off in the first heat and set a track record with a 56.21 downtime. That time was nearly matched by 2022 Olympic silver medalist Axel Jungk, who was behind by .2 at one point, but made up ground and got within .06 of Weston after the first run from the fourth starting spot. Amedeo Bagnis, on his home ice, slid to thidr after the first heat, just .16 back with reigning Olympic champion Christopher Grotheer fourth, Wenhao Chen fifth and Felix Keisinger sixth, all within .23 of Weston after the first run.
The second heat saw Grotheer put down a strong second salvo, briefly a track record, and more than enough to jump ahead of Bagnis and into medal contention. Jungk then, for a second time, got off to a seemingly slow start but had another outstanding run to lower the record another .04 and take the lead from Grotheer by .16.
But Weston has won two of the previous three four-heat races in men’s skeleton. His second start was .04 quicker than his first, and he was quicker at every single split on his way to a track record 55.88 downtime for the heat and a lead of .3 over Jungk, with Grotheer .46 back in third.
“I was really upset after my first run,” Weston told the media after the race. “But I chatted with my coaches and made the changes I needed to. Now I’ll try to enjoy it. It‘s the Olympics!”
When asked what he’ll do to prepare for the second day of sliding, his answer: “Probably a lot of pizza. Or pasta..pasta makes you faster!”
Jungk and Grotheer, the reigning silver and gold medalists, spend Thursday night in second and third as the only two sliders within a half of a second of Weston.
“There’s a bit of frustration,” Jungk told BSD press after the second heat. “I’m still having some problems in the upper section. I worked on it in the final practice but not so much in the race, so there’s definitely room for improvement.”
For Grotheer, a small issue in the first heat needed to be cleaned up, and he’s looking forward to Friday.
“I’m satisfied for now,” Grotheer said. “The wall in Curve 3 cost me momentum [in the first heat], otherwise I would have been closer.”
China’s Chen is fourth overnight, .13 behind Grotheer. Bagnis sits fifth, just .07 behind Chen, with Keisinger sixth as the final slider within a full second of Weston.
USA’s Austin Florian lowered his own start record to 4.49 in the first heat, then lowered it again in the second heat on his way to a 13th place position overnight. Teammate Dan Barefoot slid to 19th at halfway, two spots ahead of Australia’s Nick Timmings.
Canada’s Josip Brusic is 24th after two runs.
Prior to the event, Ukraine’s Vladyslav Heraskevych was informed he was being removed from the event due to the ongoing disagreement with the IOC regarding his Ukrainian Athlete Memorial Helmet. That story is here: LINK
Standings After Two Runs:
| Pos | Name | Nation | Bib | IBSF Rank | Start 1 | Start 2 | Run 1 | Run 2 | Total |
| 1 | Matt Weston | GBR | 1 | 1 | 4.54 | 4.50 | 56.21 | 55.88 | 1:52.09 |
| 2 | Axel Jungk | GER | 4 | 4 | 4.58 | 4.53 | 56.27 | 56.12 | 1:52.39 |
| 3 | Christopher Grotheer | GER | 10 | 9 | 4.65 | 4.64 | 56.39 | 56.16 | 1:52.55 |
| 4 | Wenhao Chen | CHN | 7 | 7 | 4.54 | 4.54 | 56.43 | 56.25 | 1:52.68 |
| 5 | Amedeo Bagnis | ITA | 8 | 8 | 4.56 | 4.50 | 56.37 | 56.38 | 1:52.75 |
| 6 | Felix Keisinger | GER | 9 | 10 | 4.55 | 4.52 | 56.44 | 56.53 | 1:52.97 |
| 7 | Marcus Wyatt | GBR | 3 | 3 | 4.54 | 4.53 | 56.52 | 56.69 | 1:53.21 |
| 8 | Qinwei Lin | CHN | 14 | 14 | 4.53 | 4.49 | 56.89 | 56.33 | 1:53.22 |
| 8 | Seunggi Jung | KOR | 6 | 6 | 4.64 | 4.61 | 56.57 | 56.65 | 1:53.22 |
| 8 | Zheng Yin | CHN | 2 | 2 | 4.58 | 4.54 | 56.56 | 56.66 | 1:53.22 |
| 11 | Rasmus Johansen | DEN | 15 | 15 | 4.57 | 5.58 | 56.82 | 56.52 | 1:53.34 |
| 12 | Mattia Gaspari | ITA | 12 | 12 | 4.72 | 4.71 | 56.73 | 56.72 | 1:53.45 |
| 13 | Austin Florian | USA | 13 | 13 | 4.49 | 4.48 | 56.95 | 56.59 | 1:53.54 |
| 14 | Samuel Maier | AUT | 5 | 5 | 4.68 | 4.69 | 56.89 | 57.23 | 1:54.12 |
| 15 | Jisoo Kim | KOR | 17 | 21 | 4.55 | 4.54 | 57.15 | 57.00 | 1:54.15 |
| 16 | Vinzenz Buff | SUI | 21 | 30 | 4.73 | 4.74 | 57.27 | 57.02 | 1:54.29 |
| 17 | Emils Indriksons | LAT | 20 | 27 | 4.66 | 4.67 | 57.29 | 57.11 | 1:54.40 |
| 18 | Florian Auer | AUT | 22 | 33 | 4.79 | 4.79 | 57.53 | 56.91 | 1:54.44 |
| 19 | Daniel Barefoot | USA | 23 | 36 | 4.72 | 4.71 | 57.47 | 57.22 | 1:54.69 |
| 20 | Lucas Defayet | FRA | 16 | 17 | 4.71 | 4.71 | 57.63 | 57.66 | 1:55.29 |
| 21 | Nicholas Timmings | AUS | 19 | 26 | 4.75 | 4.82 | 58.26 | 57.57 | 1:55.83 |
| 22 | Jared Firestone | ISR | 24 | 38 | 4.74 | 4.75 | 58.15 | 57.74 | 1:55.89 |
| 23 | Hiroatsu Takahashi | JPN | 25 | 41 | 4.70 | 4.74 | 58.06 | 58.46 | 1:56.52 |
| 24 | Josip Brusic | CAN | 18 | 23 | 4.72 | 4.76 | 58.14 | 58.40 | 1:56.54 |
| DNS | Vladyslav Heraskevych | UKR | 11 | 11 | DNS |