Charlotte Bankes and Huw Nightingale take historic mixed team snowboard cross gold

Charlotte Bankes and Huw Nightingale produced a blistering display in the mixed team snowboard cross to capture gold and deliver Great Britain’s first ever Winter Olympic title on snow. The victory, sealed by a dramatic final run, also helped Britain notch two gold medals at a single Winter Games for the first time.

From individual disappointment to team glory

Both riders suffered earlier heartache in their solo events, leaving them with something to prove. Bankes, a former individual world champion and two-time overall World Cup winner, had exited the women’s event in the quarter-finals. Nightingale had been eliminated in the round of 16 in the men’s competition. They responded by finding a new gear in the mixed team event.

The format sees the men race first. Nightingale crossed the line in second behind Loan Bozzolo of France, handing Bankes a platform to attack. Bankes used her signature speed and race craft to move ahead and nip Italy’s Michela Moioli to the line by 0. 43 seconds. The Italian pairing of Moioli and Lorenzo Sommariva took silver, while Bozzolo and Lea Casta completed the podium in bronze.

Bankes, visibly overwhelmed, said she was "lost for words" and praised her partner’s contribution: "Huw put me in an amazing position, he's been riding extremely well and rode today to his full potential. I was in that start gate, knowing I was going for gold. " Nightingale reflected on the trust between them: "It's immense. I think we push each other well and for me, I know that Charlotte Bankes is behind me and she's such an incredible rider that it kind of loosens me up. When I'm loose, I can ride really well and I think we've shown that today. "

Underdogs who rose to the occasion

The British duo entered the contest seeded 13th, despite having won the only mixed team World Cup of the season prior to the Games. Their path to gold was far from straightforward. A large contingent of British supporters gathered at Livigno Snow Park, waving union flags and cheering through a tense quarter-final and a semi-final in which Bankes suffered a broken binding in the start gate but still pressed on to secure victory.

Snowboard cross is notoriously chaotic, with riders reaching speeds up to 60mph and the smallest contact capable of ending a run. Even so, Bankes and Nightingale executed clean, aggressive lines in the final, combining pace with calculated overtakes to avoid the pile-ups that can decide these races.

The win caps a strong rivalry with established teams and riders and adds Olympic gold to the World Championship title the pair won together in 2023. It also extends Bankes’ already impressive resume and marks a breakthrough moment for Nightingale at age 24.

What this means for British winter sport

The gold in the mixed team snowboard cross represents the first time Great Britain has won a Winter Olympic title on snow; previous snow medals had been bronzes. Coming on a day when Britain also claimed gold in a separate mixed team event, the result marks the most successful single day in the nation's Winter Olympic history and underscores the depth developing across multiple disciplines.

Team officials and fans hailed the pair’s composure under pressure and their ability to respond after disappointing individual results. For Bankes and Nightingale, the triumph is a vindication of their resilience and a reminder of how quickly fortunes can change in the high-stakes, high-speed world of snowboard cross.

As celebrations continued, the athletes and supporters alike savoured a milestone moment: a first-ever snow gold and a landmark day that will be remembered in the annals of British winter sport.