Great Britain’s Charlotte Bankes and Huw Nightingale have won gold in the snowboard cross mixed team event at the World Championships in Georgia.
It’s the nation’s first-ever title in the mixed team discipline which debuted at the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing.
Bankes failed to defend her individual snowboard cross world title after crashing out of her heat on Wednesday, while Nightingale didn’t 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.”
Nightingale, 21, who is making his debut at the World Championships, placed the British pair just 0.07 seconds off the lead with an impressive first run.
Bankes then dominated the women’s field, crossing the line first to finish 0.88 seconds ahead of Austria’s Jakob Dusek and Pia Zerkhold, while France came third.
The 27-year-old, who became Britain’s first-ever snowboard world champion when she won individual gold back in 2021, has been in good form on the World Cup circuit this season, picking up two golds and a bronze.
“I can’t quite believe it,” she said. “I don’t know if it meant more than the singles two years ago, but after yesterday we came out.
“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.”
GB Snowsport head coach Pat Sharples 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.”
Bankes and Nightingale’s win follows 16-year-old Mia Brookes’ historic snowboard slopestyle victory on Monday.
