Skeleton champion Matt Weston races to protect winter sports from climate change

British skeleton athlete Matt Weston made history at the 2025 Milano Cortina Winter Olympics. He broke the track record four times and won two gold medals, becoming the most successful male Winter Olympian Britain has ever had. Now, away from the ice, he is using his fame to fight climate change.

Weston grew up near Tunbridge Wells in Kent, a county in England with no mountains. He loved being outside as a child and played football, rugby, and taekwondo. After a back injury, he tried a sports talent day and was picked for skeleton — a fast, thrilling sport where athletes race head-first down an icy track.

After his Olympic wins, life changed fast for Weston. Fans recognised him on the London Underground and sent him messages online. He visited Wimbledon and the Silverstone racing circuit, and he also got married — all within a few months.

Weston joined a group called Protect Our Winters, known as POW, to speak up about climate change. He has spent ten years training on ice tracks around the world and has watched conditions get worse. In St. Moritz, Switzerland — home to the world's last natural ice track — officials are now discussing whether they need refrigeration just to keep the ice frozen.

Weston says that small changes in ice quality have a big effect on his sport. Skeleton races are decided by hundredths of a second, so even tiny bits of frost on the surface can slow a racer down. When outside temperatures are too warm, the machines that cool artificial tracks cannot keep up, and training days get cancelled.

Snow in the mountains is also disappearing. The Alps are warming at twice the global average rate. Weston says the snowy scenery that used to be guaranteed is now becoming rare, and some mountain resorts look more like a rainy autumn day in Britain.

POW was started in 2007 by snowboarder Jeremy Jones, who noticed that the mountain resorts he loved were losing their snow. His goal was to unite the whole outdoor community — skiers, climbers, surfers, and more — to push for action on climate change. The group's motto is: 'We might be dirtbags, but we're dirtbags making a difference.'

One of POW UK's key campaigns is called Clean Miles. It asks for better and more affordable public transport that has room for sports equipment. Weston currently has to drive across Europe with his heavy sled because trains cannot easily carry it. He says improved public transport would help athletes and sports fans travel with a smaller carbon footprint.

Weston says joining POW has helped him feel less overwhelmed by the problem. He knows that thinking too hard about climate change can feel hopeless, but POW focuses on solutions. That positive, action-based approach is what made him want to get involved.

In November, Weston will return to the World Cup skeleton circuit as a double Olympic champion and a climate advocate. He wants future athletes to be able to race on the same fast, icy tracks that he loves. He says it would be 'pretty sad' if the changing climate took that away from them.