Latvia's six-times world skeleton champion Martins Dukurs is renewing his contract to coach British skeleton athletes through to the the 2026 Winter Olympic Games ©YouTube

Latvia’s retired six-times world champion Martins Dukurs is extending his coaching role with the British skeleton team until the end of the 2026 Winter Olympic Games in Milan and Cortina d'Ampezzo.

The 39-year-old, winner of two Olympic silver medals and a record 11 International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation (IBSF) World Cups, had a highly successful first year after becoming a performance coach for the British Bobsleigh and Skeleton Association (BBSA) last August.

Matt Weston, coached by Dukurs, won the World Championship and European Championship titles earlier this year,  and finished the 2022-2023 World Cup season in second place, winning five of eight stages.

Another Briton, Marcus Wyeth, also registered a World Cup victory and finished in silver medal position behind Weston in the concluding IBSF World Cup in Sigulda in February. 

Britain's Matt Weston won world and European skeleton titles last season under the guidance of Latvia's Martins Dukurs, who is renewing his contract until the end of the Milan Cortina 2026 Games ©Getty Images
Britain's Matt Weston won world and European skeleton titles last season under the guidance of Latvia's Martins Dukurs, who is renewing his contract until the end of the Milan Cortina 2026 Games ©Getty Images

Dukurs has told Latvian Radio that, while he has not officially yet signed the deal with the BBSA, the agreement has already been reached.

"I said - exploit me more in the winter, but leave me alone in the summer, so that I can also focus on my own affairs," Dukurs, winner of 12 European titles, 61 World Cup wins and 90 podium-placings, remaining top of the overall standings for 11 seasons, said. 

"I will find time to do my housework, technical things, all the rest."

Dukurs explained the success of the British at the last stage of the World Cup in Sigulda with a set of several factors, adding new techniques and ideas to talented drivers, which created the result.

Lizzy Yarnold won gold medals at Sochi 2014 and Pyeongchang 2018 to help make skeleton Britain's most successful Winter Olympic sport of recent times ©Getty Images
Lizzy Yarnold won gold medals at Sochi 2014 and Pyeongchang 2018 to help make skeleton Britain's most successful Winter Olympic sport of recent times ©Getty Images

After figure skating, skeleton is Britain's most successful Winter Olympic sport, with three gold medals, all in the women's event.

Amy Williams won at Vancouver 2010, while Lizzy Yarnold enjoyed consecutive victories at Sochi 2014 and Pyeongchang 2018.

In addition, Shelley Rudman won a silver at Turin 2006 and Alex Coomber and Lauras Deas at Salt Lake City 2002 and Pyeonchang 2018, respectively. 

The men have won three bronze medals - David Carnegie and John Crammond, in 1928 and 1948, when the Olympics took place on both occasions in St Moritz, and Dominic Parsons at Pyeongchang 2018.