Bath's Hidden Winter Olympics Legacy
The picturesque city of Bath, renowned for its Roman-built plumbing and Georgian architecture featured in Netflix's Bridgerton, holds a surprising secret: it's the training ground for Britain's Winter Olympic skeleton champions. While visitors flock to see Roman baths and Regency-era buildings, elite athletes are pushing off on the UK's only 140-meter skeleton push-start track at the University of Bath's Sports Training Village.
The Track That Produces Champions
Since opening in 2002, this specialized facility has become the proving ground for nine Olympic medal-winning skeleton athletes. The latest success stories are Matt Weston, who claimed individual gold in men's skeleton, and Tabby Stoecker, with whom he secured mixed event gold at the Milan-Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics. Their victories highlight Bath's crucial role in Team GB's winter sports program.
Stephen Baddeley, the university's director of sport, expressed pride in the athletes' achievements: "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."
Weston's Record-Breaking Performance
Matt Weston, a 28-year-old two-time world champion, attributes his explosive starts to training on Bath's track. During his gold medal campaign, he set five consecutive track records at Cortina d'Ampezzo. This impressive feat came with a traditional cost: according to skeleton racing custom, athletes must buy maintenance staff a crate of beer after setting the fastest time, meaning Weston purchased five crates for Italian track workers.
Team GB's Historic Winter Games
The combined success of Weston and Stoecker in skeleton, along with Charlotte Bankes and Huw Nightingale's historic win in snowboard cross mixed team event, has made Milan-Cortina 2026 Team GB's best Winter Olympics in terms of gold medals. With three more medals of any color, this would become Britain's most successful Winter Games overall.
Attention now turns to Bath-trained bobsleigh teams who could add to the medal tally later in the week. The university's facilities continue to support multiple winter sports disciplines, cementing Bath's reputation as an unexpected hub for cold-weather athletic excellence.
Britain's Winter Olympic Gold History
Team GB's Winter Olympics gold medal legacy includes:
- 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
This growing list demonstrates Britain's evolving winter sports prowess, with Bath playing an increasingly significant role in developing skeleton champions who compete on the world's biggest stage.
