Bankes and Nightingale win Great Britain first ever Olympic gold on snow

On 15 February 2026, at Livigno Snow Park, Great Britain crossed a threshold that had stood for the entire history of its Winter Olympic participation. Charlotte Bankes and Huw Nightingale won the mixed team snowboard cross, becoming the first British athletes ever to win an Olympic gold medal on snow.

The final was decided by the slimmest of margins. Nightingale set off first and finished a close second to France Loan Bozzolo on the men leg, before Bankes powered through on the women leg, moving into the lead at the halfway point and holding on to beat host nation Italy by just 0.43 seconds. Italy Michela Moioli and Lorenzo Sommariva took silver, while France claimed bronze.

“Charlotte Bankes and Huw Nightingale won the mixed team snowboard cross, becoming the first British athletes ever to win an Olympic gold medal on snow.”

For Bankes and Nightingale, world champions in the discipline back in 2023, the gold was the reward for years of work in a sport where Britain has rarely featured at the very top of snow events. Britain Winter Olympic golds had historically come on ice, in skating and on the bobsleigh track, making this breakthrough on the slopes a genuine first.

The win is a milestone moment for British winter sport, the kind of result that can shift expectations and open doors. Young snowboarders growing up in a country without high mountains or guaranteed snow now have proof that an Olympic title is within reach. Sometimes a single race, decided by less than half a second, can change the sense of what a whole nation believes is possible.