"Great Britain's best hopes of gold at these Winter Olympics have suffered a setback after skeleton's governing body banned its new aerodynamic helmets for being the wrong shape. Team GB's Matt Weston and Marcus Wyatt have dominated skeleton all season, winning all seven of the World Cup races, and making them strong favourites to win gold and silver here in Milan."
"Yet having trialled it in San Moritz last week, it has now emerged that the International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation quickly banned the helmets on January 29, saying they did not comply with the IBSF skeleton rules based on its shape. Team GB have now appealed the decision to the court of arbitration for sport, arguing the design and manufacture of the helmet meets rigorous safety standards. The appeal will be heard on Thursday, with the result expected on Friday."
"UK Sport has pumped 5,765,123 of National Lottery funding into skeleton sliders over the last four years, and have been rewarded with Weston in particular dominating the sport. Last year he became world champion for a second time, beating his closest rival Wyatt by 1.9secs faster. While this season, Weston has won five races and Wyatt has won two. Speaking just before the Games, UK Sport's performance director Kate Baker had admitted Team GB had been using new tech in the build-up,"
Matt Weston and Marcus Wyatt have won all seven World Cup skeleton races this season and are favourites for Milan-Cortina gold and silver. A new aerodynamic helmet trialled in San Moritz was banned by the International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation on January 29 for non-compliance with IBSF shape rules. Team GB has appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, arguing the helmet meets rigorous safety standards; the appeal is heard Thursday with a ruling expected Friday. Weston and Wyatt compete on 12 and 13 February. UK Sport invested 5,765,123 in skeleton over four years and used integrated research and wind-tunnel testing.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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