GB Wins First Olympic Snow Gold
Charlotte Bankes and Huw Nightingale won Great Britain's first-ever Olympic gold medal on snow in mixed team snowboard cross at Milano Cortina 2026. The historic victory breaks new ground for British winter sports, which had never before claimed Olympic gold in snow events.
- Prior to this historic gold, Great Britain's best Olympic results on snow were three bronze medals: Jenny Jones in slopestyle at Sochi 2014, and Izzy Atkin (slopestyle) and Billy Morgan (big air) at PyeongChang 2018. - Charlotte Bankes, born in England, previously competed for France at two Winter Olympics, finishing 17th at Sochi 2014 and 7th at PyeongChang 2018, before switching her allegiance to Great Britain in 2018. - This was the second Olympic appearance for the duo as a team; they placed sixth in the mixed team snowboard cross event at the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics. - The golden pairing has a proven track record of success, having won the mixed team snowboard cross title at the 2023 World Championships. They also won a World Cup mixed team event in December 2025. - In the final, Huw Nightingale raced first, putting the team in a strong position, before Bankes overtook her French competitor to secure the victory. The Italian team finished second to take silver, and one of the French teams came in third for the bronze. - Individually at the Milano Cortina 2026 Games, Bankes was eliminated in the quarter-finals of the women's snowboard cross, while Nightingale placed tenth in the men's event. - The victory marked the first time Great Britain has ever won two gold medals at a single Winter Olympic Games.
