Skeleton-Weston keeps cool amid startline mayhem to lead at halfway

CORTINA D'AMPEZZO, Italy, Feb 12 : World number one Matt Weston retained his focus amid extraordinary scenes before the start of the Olympic skeleton men's singles on Thursday, opening the day with a track record and closing it with another to build a healthy lead at halfway.

Half an hour before the race was due to start Ukrainian Vladyslav Heraskevych was disqualified because he refused to not use his "helmet of remembrance", despite a late plea from International Olympic Committee president Kirsty Coventry.

Although the ban had been likely, many athletes thought a compromise would be reached and that he would be allowed to take part.

Weston said he was unaware of the situation until after his first run as he posted a track record to lead Germany's 2022 silver medallist Axel Jungk by six hundredths of a second.

Jungk and compatriot and Beijing gold medallist Christopher Grotheer responded with further track records, before Weston showed his class with yet another of 55.88 seconds - the only sub-56 time of the day. That left him a healthy three tenths ahead of Jungk and almost half a second up on third-placed Grotheer.

Weston, a double World Champion and three-times World Cup overall winner, is seeking a first gold for a British man in the sport following three for their women in previous Games.

He opted out of Wednesday's final training run, having chalked up three successive fastest times, and instead spent the day relaxing.

"I chilled out really, completely switched off. Did stretching and rolling, looked after my body, looked after my brain a little bit," he said. "I decided to come in here fresh and ready.

"The first run is always the hardest, mentally. Just to get the run down, get yourself settled into the race. Run two,