The Romans, Bridgerton and Team GB’s Winter OIympic heroes all have one thing in common: the city of Bath.
Famed for its Roman-built plumbing and Georgian architecture, which features in the steamy Netflix drama, the Somerset city has become the place where skeleton champions go to hone their skills.
That’s because the University of Bath’s Sports Training Village is the only place in the UK to boast a 140m push-start track – and where nine Olympic medal-winning skeleton athletes have trained since it opened in 2002.
The latest success story is Matt Weston, who just won gold in the men’s skeleton, then repeated the feat with Team Bath alumni Tabby Stoecker in the mixed event at Milan-Cortina 2026.
Speaking to Metro, the university’s director of sport, Stephen Baddeley, said: ‘It has been wonderful to see Team GB enjoy such outstanding success not just over the past few days but during the 25 years since the track first opened.
‘Nine medals, five of them gold, have now been won by skeleton athletes who train in Bath and they are an inspiration to everyone within our environment.
‘We feel privileged to do what we can to help athletes and coaches be as good as they can be.’
Two-time world champion Weston, 28, credits the track for helping him master his explosive bursts off the start line.
He set five consecutive track records on the way winning to double gold – but it came at a cost. Due to a tradition where a racer must buy track maintenance staff a crate of beer after setting the fastest time, Weston will have forked out for five crates for workers at the Cortina d’Ampezzo track.
His individual and team success with Stoecker – along with Charlotte Bankes and Huw Nightingale’s historic win in the snowboard cross mixed team event – have made this Team GB’s best ever Winter Olympics in terms of gold medals won. Three more, of any colour, will make it our most successful Games.
Hopefully, the men and women’s bobsleigh teams –who also train in Bath – can add to that haul later this week.
Team GB's Winter Olympics gold medal winners
- 1924: Men’s curling
- 1936: Men’s ice hockey
- 1952: Jeannette Altwegg – figure skating
- 1964: Tony Nash and Robin Dixon – men’s bobsleigh
- 1976: John Curry – figure skating
- 1980: Robin Cousins – figure skating
- 1984: Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean – figure skating
- 2002: Women’s curling
- 2010: Amy Williams – skeleton
- 2014: Lizzy Yarnold – skeleton
- 2018: Lizzy Yarnold – skeleton
- 2022: Women’s curling
- 2026: Matt Weston – skeleton
- 2026: Charlotte Bankes and Huw Nightingale – snowboard cross
- 2026: Tabby Stoecker and Matt Weston – mixed skeleton