GB’s Charlotte Bankes and Huw Nightingale seal stunning Olympic gold in mixed snowboard cross
Charlotte Bankes roared back from a disappointing quarter-final exit in the women’s snowboard cross to become Olympic champion for the first time in the mixed event alongside Huw Nightingale, making history with Team GB’s first ever Olympic gold on snow.
Their victory also cemented Milano-Cortina as Britain’s most successful Winter Olympics to date, despite a quieter start, having never previously won two golds at the same Games.
24-year-old Nightingale put down one of his best-ever runs at the Livigno Snow Park to put GB in second place ahead of the women’s wave, just 0.14 seconds behind France.
France’s Lea Casta stretched that lead to over a second in the top section of the 1.1km course but Bankes played a patient game, storming back into contention with a brilliant undertake in the second half and holding off her rival to win Olympic gold by 0.43 seconds.
There was no dramatic celebration for Bankes, but the emotion was clear as Nightingale ran over to hug her at the finish and the pair jumped for joy on the podium.
It was redemption for the 30-year-old after a devastating early exit in the individual event on Friday, in the exact same round as she crashed out in Beijing four years ago.
It also capped a stunning return to the top of the sport after she broke her collarbone last April, with two surgeries and a lengthy rehab process threatening her participation in a fourth Olympics.
She only returned to competition in early December but she and Nightingale demonstrated their potential with a win in the mixed World Cup event in Cervinia, Italy that month.
Now on their return to Italy they have sealed the Olympic title, three years after becoming world champions in the event.
France’s Loan Bozzolo dominated the men’s leg of the final, with Nightingale in a constant battle with Australia’s Adam Lambert for second before a late burst of speed.
Lambert crashed late after a coming-together with Italy’s Lorenzo Sommariva, meaning Australia’s individual gold medallist Josie Baff would have the maximum time deficit to make up – 4.16 – while Nightingale closed the gap on Bozzolo with an excellent finish to cross the line second, 0.14 seconds down.
Silver went to Italy’s Lorenzo Sommariva and Michele Moioli, the individual bronze medallist, with France’s Casta and Loan Bozzolo taking bronze.
Snowboard cross is a chaotic, hugely dramatic event, in which racecraft and simple luck can be as important as power and speed. In the mixed event the men race first, with their time gaps and final positions carried over into the women’s leg, and the times after the women’s leg determining the overall result. The top two from each ‘wave’ advance.
Nightingale left Bankes with significant ground to make up after finishing third in his wave of the quarter-final, 1.09 seconds down on Canada’s Eliot Grondin.
But Bankes stormed back, making up ground early in the 1.1km course in Livigno before cutting inside on a sweeping left-hander to edge into the lead, winning in a photo finish a mere 0.02 seconds ahead of Australia’s Mia Clift.
Nightingale was significantly quicker in the semi-final, only 0.03 seconds off Bozzolo, but there was a nervy moment immediately before Bankes’ wave of the race as she changed her bindings with moments to go in the start gate.
Getting the screwdrivers out moments before fighting to get into the final was less than ideal preparation, but it clearly didn’t put her off.
Casta made a lightning-quick start and with Australia and Switzerland well off the pace, all Bankes needed to do was to stick with the Frenchwoman. But she raced aggressively and overhauled Casta lower down the course, charging into the lead around the final bend with a risky overtake, and holding on to book her spot in the final with time to spare.
And she replicated that strategy in the final, having cleaned up the mistakes from Friday’s individual event and keeping a cool head to time her overtake to perfection – and clinch that long-awaited gold medal.
