Snowboarders Charlotte Bankes and Huw Nightingale claim historic GOLD for Great Britain at Winter Olympics

In the frenzy of the most chaotic sport at these Winter Olympics, Charlotte Bankes and Huw Nightingale cruised to a stunning gold medal in snowboard mixed team cross country on Sunday.

In highly extraordinary scenes in Livigno, the Team GB duo edged out the Italians, French and Australians to claim Team GB’s first Games title on snow, not to mention their regrets from earlier in the week.

To put this dividing line into perspective, Britain has been sending teams to this interesting meeting since 1924 and has never before gone above bronze in the white goods. Ice? No problem. They win on ice. Skeletons run on ice.

But not in the snow. They find it more slippery.

And so along with the history of this moment there were also exciting stories of redemption.

The latter is more true of Bankes, who was previously an individual world champion but was forever haunted by the time she went to the Games. He dreamed of winning a medal on his own strength, both at Beijing 2022 and here, and each time he was eliminated in the quarter-finals; On Friday, this departure took place in tears.

Couple claim victory in snowboard cross mixed team final

Bankes crossed the line first, ahead of French snowboarder Lea Casta

Nightingale? Expectations are much lower, which meant there were no headlines when he finished 26th in the men’s race. But out of their difficulties came a remarkable recovery. This started with a drinking session to clear the minds and culminated in an astonishing performance here; The British somehow avoided all the carnage and accidents that occur when racing snowboards on a narrow track.

The final result? They took the lead in the three corners they completed and finished the race 0.43 seconds ahead of the Italians. Bronze was collected by the French. Remarkable.

Bankes had done the hard work in winning the quarter-final, but Nightingale came to the fore in the semi-final.

The theory, perhaps unkindly nurtured, was always that Bankes could do the rest as long as he stood tall. However, it was Nightingale who created the necessary platform for them to advance to the final with a magnificent run to second place behind the French in their section of the race.

From there, a little unexpected drama ensued – Bankes was seen fumbling with his bindings before long screwdrivers and some panic emerged. With the issue resolved, he overtook the French in the final third of this tortuous half and their reward was the best lane in the four-way showdown.

Can they do this? This was a tall order. The Australian had Josie Baff, who won gold on the same day Bankes left in tears, while the Italians were led by reigning world champion and bronze medalist Michela Moioli on Friday. What further complicated the optimists was that the French team was led by Loan Bozzolo, who won the mixed world title last year. difficult,

But Nightingale had to surrender the race of her life in second place only to the French. The better news, if this isn’t too partisan, is that Australia’s Adam Lambert crashed towards the end. They were four seconds behind but with a clean run from Bankes the medal was certain.

And more was on the table. Bankes caught the ball three runs from home with a left-handed shot as he walked through France’s Lea Casta. Finishing, Bankes screamed and led Team GB to their second gold medal of the Games.