Bankes and Nightingale win historic snowboard cross gold for Great Britain

Charlotte Bankes and Huw Nightingale have made history by becoming Great Britain’s first ever mixed team snowboard cross world champions.

The victory is the nation’s first-ever title in the mixed team discipline that debuted at the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing.

The pair won narrowly in Georgia by 0.88 seconds from Austria’s Jakob Dusek and Pia Zerkhold, while France’s Merlin Surget and Chloé Trespeuch came third in a thrilling final.

Nightingale was just 0.07sec off the lead when he handed over to Bankes who prevailed over the rest of the women’s field to claim Britain’s second gold of the championships, following Mia Brookes’s slopestyle win on Monday.

Bankes had failed in her attempt to defend her individual snowboard cross world title after crashing out of her heat on Wednesday, while Nightingale did not qualify for the men’s finals.

“I can’t believe it,” said Nightingale. “After yesterday when it was not so good for both of us, to put everything we had into it is amazing and unbelievable.”

“I don’t know if it meant more than the singles two years ago, but after yesterday we came out,” she added. “The conditions were tricky, but we had great boards and the team had belief in us. We saved out energy and did it today. Next step is to do the double next time.”

Pat Sharples, GB Snowsport head coach, said: “It’s hard to put into words. After the disappointment of yesterday, this win for Charlotte and Huw makes it even more special.

“Huw performed at his absolute best we’ve ever seen him in competition and showed he’s going to be a big contender in this sport for many years to come. Once again, Charlotte proved she’s the best in the world.”