British skeleton racer Matt Weston wins 1st test race on controversial new Olympic sliding track

CORTINA D'AMPEZZO, Italy (AP) — The first official test race on the controversial sliding track being rebuilt for the Milan Cortina Olympics was won by skeleton world champion Matt Weston of Britain on Friday.

Weston beat European champion Samuel Maier of Austria by 0.15 seconds after two runs in the head-first discipline down the Eugenio Monti track.

It was also the opening skeleton World Cup race of the Olympic season.

Yin Zheng of China finished third, 0.18 behind, after setting the first track record at 56.79 seconds in his opening run.

Junior world champion Lukas Nydegger of Germany achieved his best World Cup result in fourth, missing the podium by 0.05.

The top American finisher was Austin Florian in 10th while Cortina native Mattia Gaspari led host Italy in 17th.

A women’s race and a mixed team event were scheduled for later, followed by bobsled races Saturday and Sunday.

While the competitive part of the track in Cortina is ready, surrounding areas are still being constructed and no spectators were allowed in for the test event.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) didn’t want millions to be spent rebuilding the track in Cortina, which had closed in 2008 due to rising maintenance costs. The IOC had suggested holding sliding events for these games in nearby Austria or Switzerland instead.

But the Italian government pushed ahead anyway and is spending 118 million euros ($136 million) remaking the venue.

The Olympics are scheduled for Feb. 6-22.

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