Charlotte Bankes and Huw Nightingale Make Winter Olympics History for Team GB
Charlotte Bankes and Huw Nightingale have ridden to a stunning victory in the mixed team snowboard cross event in Livigno, making Winter Olympics history for Team Great Britain in dramatic fashion. The duo secured Great Britain's first ever Olympic gold medal on snow after roaring to victory in the high-octane relay competition.
From Disappointment to Triumph
The pair shrugged off disappointing displays in their respective individual events to muscle their way through two heats of the intense relay competition. Bankes ultimately crossed the finish line first in the final to secure the historic gold medal. This marked an extraordinary reversal of fortunes for Bankes, a multiple World Cup race winner who partnered Nightingale to the world title in Georgia in 2023, and also led them to a World Cup podium as recently as December.
Hopes were not particularly high after a difficult first week for the British ski and snowboard team, with Bankes issuing a tearful apology only two days ago following a frustrating ninth place finish on the same course. However, on Sunday high in the Italian Alps, she proved unstoppable.
The Path to Victory
In an event where the women start the second leg at intervals determined by the result of the preceding men's race, Bankes made up a deficit of over a second on leaders Canada to qualify for the semi-finals in first place. Then it was time for 24-year-old Nightingale, who has often candidly admitted his relay role is simply to leave Bankes in with a fighting chance, to dramatically transform into a world-beater.
He blazed to second place in the next heat, pipped only by Frenchman Loan Bozzolo, and gifted Bankes the chance to surge home from the front and seal Britain's place in the four-team final in first position. Once again, Nightingale rose to the challenge, delivering a superb run to leave Bankes with an almost inconsequential deficit behind leaders France.
Securing the Gold
A fall by Australian competitor Adam Lambert left the much-fancied Australians almost out of the running, effectively guaranteeing the British pair a medal provided Bankes kept on her feet. But the 30-year-old had other ideas, surging past leader Lea Casta midway down the winding course and holding off a determined push by Italy's Michaela Moioli to seal a brilliant, historic and thoroughly redemptive gold medal.
Bankes said: "I'm happy with my riding all day. I found it again, which I've been struggling with for the last week here. At last I found some speed and made it count. I really used my carving, the drafting, made the right choices and that's where it pays off."
Historic Achievement
Bankes and Nightingale are now the fourth British athletes to win Olympic medals on snow, building on the bronze medals previously won by Jenny Jones in 2014, and both Billy Morgan and Izzy Atkin in 2018. Their gold represents a significant milestone for British winter sports.
Nightingale admitted he was concerned he might be implicated in Lambert's fall, but was relieved to see he had not been involved. He said: "It's unbelievable. GB on a whole is doing great on the snowboard side. We can thank the National Lottery for that. We want to keep it going and inspire little kids to do it as well, and maybe one day they can get a gold medal. I got a bit scared that I had taken Lambert out. I saw on the replay that it wasn't me. That was a big relief off my chest. Everybody's on such a high level, and it's just an enjoyable race to do."
The victory represents not only personal redemption for Bankes after her earlier disappointment, but also a landmark achievement for British snow sports. The mixed team snowboard cross event has provided Team GB with their most significant Winter Olympics success on snow to date, showcasing the growing strength and depth of British talent in winter sports disciplines.
