Matt Weston and Tabitha Stoker: How the duo’s success led to a skeleton rise

Both Weston and Stoker are examples of how successful talent spotting programs can be.

Both came to skeleton through a UK sport campaign called ‘Discover Your Gold’, where potential athletes are assessed for a range of sports and assigned the one best suited to them.

Weston had previously competed as a weightlifter and was advised to apply by his coach while at Stoker. Saw an ad on Instagram While working as a circus performer.

But what made this year’s applicants different was that they were registering an interest in a scheme specific to skeleton and bobsleigh, rather than working across a wider range of sports.

Exam sessions have already begun with about 1,600 of the 7,000 invited to participate. To put that into context, the BBSA’s pre-Games target was hoping 1,000 people would apply, let alone get past the first stage.

“The game, it’s pretty special, we don’t get exposure outside of the game very often so we’ve been able to capitalize on that moment so well, it’s going to have a huge impact on the future of our sport,” Stoker said.

“It just goes to show that if you can see it, you can believe it. It opens a door for people to know that there’s this avenue for them to do this amazing, exciting winter sport that you don’t really see that much in the UK.”

“For me and Matt to know that we were instrumental in creating that moment for people to really see something new and imagine themselves in our position — that’s just awesome.”