Great Britain are finally Olympic champions on snow. After 102 years of waiting, that stubborn statistic was swept away in spectacular fashion as Charlotte Bankes and Huw Nightingale
powered to gold in the mixed snowboard cross, delivering one of the most exhilarating moments of the Winter Games.
Redemption is never far away at the Olympics, and no discipline serves it up with quite the same chaos and courage as snowboard cross. In a schedule packed with events shaped by judges’ marks, this was refreshingly raw: four riders, one course, first to the line wins.
Bankes and Nightingale rose to the occasion when it mattered most, producing Great Britain’s most memorable Olympic partnership since Torvill and Dean, and banishing the disappointment of their individual events earlier in the week.
There is a tendency to assume Bankes — a 25-time World Cup winner and former world champion — is the engine of the team. But this gold was built on Nightingale’s brilliance. Racing far beyond his ranking, he delivered three exceptional runs to put Britain in contention, adding Olympic gold to the world title the pair claimed three years ago.
His opening leg in the final proved decisive, leaving Bankes just 0.14 seconds behind France’s Léa Casta at the changeover.
What followed was edge-of-the-seat drama. Bankes shadowed her rival down the 1,110-metre course, biding her time before launching an audacious late attack. She carved an aggressive line through the final corners, squeezed through a gap that barely existed, and exploded towards the finish as the crowd held its breath.
Settling for silver was never on her radar.
“It was all about gold. That was the only medal I wanted,” said Bankes, who had exited the quarter-finals of her individual event both four years ago and again here, despite starting among the favourites.
“I race on instinct. I had to go for it — that’s the only way I know. I was determined not to have anyone in front of me at the line.
“It’s such a relief. Olympic champions — it sounds amazing. You’ll have to keep saying it for me to believe it. I’ve struggled all week but I found my speed when it mattered. This sport is about tiny margins, and pulling it off means everything.”
Britain’s route to the final was anything but smooth. Nightingale revealed he was “punched in the face” during a frantic quarter-final, while the bindings on Bankes’s board snapped just before the semi-final — the kind of setbacks that usually end Olympic dreams.
This time, fortune finally swung their way.
“Our individual events were really tough,” said Nightingale. “But now it’s just tears of joy. Knowing Charlotte is behind you takes the pressure off. She’s an incredible rider and racing with her gives me so much confidence.”
As medals were awarded, Nightingale’s friends and family watched on before heading into Livigno for celebrations that rolled late into the night at Miky’s Disco Club, with Sweet Caroline blaring as the sun dipped behind the mountains.
“I’ll be doing a proper debrief over a few pints later,” Nightingale laughed.
After more than a century of waiting, British winter sport finally has its golden moment — and it came in the most thrilling way possible. Photo by teamgb.com.