Which athlete won the first Olympic gold medal in men's skeleton?

Jennison Heaton won the first Olympic gold medal in men’s skeleton at the 1928 Winter Olympics.

The American athlete won the skeleton competition at St. Moritz, where the sport made its Olympic debut. Heaton also won silver in the bobsleigh four-man event, making him one of the few competitors to medal in both sliding disciplines at those Games.

Skeleton was contested at St. Moritz because the nearby Cresta Run was suitable for the head-first sliding event. It disappeared from the Olympic program after 1928, returned in 1948, and then was absent again until its permanent return at Salt Lake City in 2002.

Nino Bibbia won the 1948 men’s skeleton title, so he was the first champion after the sport’s return, not the first Olympic champion overall.