The British pair of Charlotte Bankes and Huw Nightingale claimed a historic gold in the snowboard cross mixed team final.
The pair’s medal is Great Britain’s second of the Games after Matt Weston won gold in the skeleton, something they have never achieved before at the Winter Games.
It is also Team GB’s first ever gold medal on snow.
Nightingale led Britain off well from the front in the opening leg, finishing just 0.14secs behind Frenchman Loan Bozzolo in second.
And Bankes followed that up with a spectacular performance of her own, reeling in Lea Casta to storm to gold, sparking wild celebrations in Livigno.
It marks a remarkable comeback for the pair, who both exited their respective heats in disappointing fashion earlier in the Games.
‘It’s absolutely huge. You can’t underestimate the meaning of this,’ Ed Leigh, snowboarding and freestyle skiing commentator, told the BBC.
‘There were three French teams out there, strategically built teams and Huw and Charlotte just have each other.
‘Huw is so consistent. He can deliver a result every single race there or there abouts with the winner, and that means Charlotte, a mercurially talented snowboard cross racer, can reel in the pack.’
Nightingale and Bankes were in good form heading to Italy after winning gold in the mixed team event at the Snowboard Cross World Cup in Cervinia, Italy.
The duo previously were previously world champions in the same discipline after claiming gold at the 2023 World Championships in Georgia.
Bankes, 30, was born in Hemel Hempstead but represented France at two Winter Olympics after her family relocated to the French Alps during her childhood.
She decided to switch her allegiances and represent Great Britain ahead of the 2022 Games in Beijing.
Nightingale, 24, was born in Bolton but learnt his trade in Austria, where his family moved in 2007. His cousin, Matt Rotherham, won cycling gold at the 2020 Paralympics in Tokyo for Team GB.
And now their historic gold on snow supersedes the previous best of the bronze medals won by Jenny Jones, Billy Morgan and Izzy Atkin.
More to follow.
