The world champion skeleton star from Crowborough has reflected on growing up in the town and how it has helped him achieve his sporting success. He spoke this week to our reporter, Jake Heasman.
Matt Weston, 28, now lives in Bath as he is a full-time athlete as part of the GB Skeleton squad. But even though he is living in the south west, Weston has not forgotten his roots. He said: “I think growing up in Crowborough has shaped who I am as a person as it is a nice area to grow up in. “I have lots of fond memories of Crowborough”
Matt added that people might find him sprinting around Goldsmiths Leisure Centre running track when he is not in Bath training for the 2026 Winter Olympics which are being held in Milan. “It feels homely and nice to come back and see some faces I have not seen for a while. I feel some more support when I come home too!”
He went to St John’s CE Primary School and Bennett Memorial Diocesan School in Tunbridge Wells but has hit national headlines and worldwide acclaim having won two skeleton World Championships, with his most recent victory in Lake Placid in March this year.
And he now has his sights set on replicating his world championship success at the Winter Olympics next year. “It is always nice to perform in front of family and friends who are normally cheering too loudly, and to do that at the Olympics will be even more special. I am really excited to see how my success this year will help me during the games next year.”
Although Matt is at the top of his game, he said it was important to always keep learning. “People make mistakes and you can be upset about them, but every mistake has lots to be learnt from and if you don’t see them as valuable then you’re missing out.”
Despite being a winter Olympian and two time skeleton World Champion, he has also was a medal winning England taekwondo representative and an avid rugby player as he played for Sevenoaks rugby club. What makes Matt’s his international sporting success so remarkable is that he only took up the skeleton sport in 2017!
Skeleton is the sport that grabbed everybody’s attention and admiration in recent Winter Olympics. The athlete rides a small sled, known as a skeleton bobsled, down a frozen track while laying face down and headfirst. In elite racing the athlete can experience accelerations of 5g and, amazingly, reach speeds over 80mph.
Weston stuck with the local theme when asked about his sporting idols as he revealed it was Lizzie Yarnold, who is from Sevenoaks and who won successive skeleton golds in 2014 and 2018 that inspired him. He said: “In my first ever year in skeleton I saw Lizzie win Olympic gold. That was a massive inspiration for me and my whole career since then.” He admitted that he “aspired to be like her” but also wanted to “overtake some of her records” when he first started.
Weston will be training as hard as he can in preparation for the Winter Olympics which will take place between the 6th until the 22nd of February where he will undoubtedly only have one thing on his mind. He told us: “I take that mindset of nothing is going to stop me from winning gold, so that is the mindset I have, nothing is going to get in my way.”