Team GB chiefs have hailed Britain’s greatest day at a Winter Olympics after securing two gold medals on a memorable Sunday in Milano Cortina. The successes came in the mixed snowboard cross and mixed team skeleton, marking a historic haul for the British team.
The day began with a surprise victory in the mixed snowboard cross in Livigno. Charlotte Bankes and Huw Nightingale stormed to gold, with Bankes dramatically overtaking the French team with four turns remaining to seal the win.
Less than five hours later, Tabitha Stoecker and Matt Weston added a second gold in the mixed team skeleton in Cortina. Weston overturned a 0.30-second deficit following Stoecker’s run to beat Germany by 0.17 seconds. The result made Weston, who also won gold in the individual event on Friday, the joint most decorated British Winter Olympian in history alongside Lizzy Yarnold.
“I’m extremely proud of what I’ve been able to achieve in the past couple of days,” Weston said. “To win the first ever team event is absolutely amazing – and to win it with such a great teammate is the icing on the cake.”
Team GB’s chef de mission, Eve Muirhead, praised the double gold that lifted Britain to 12th in the medal table. “Getting two gold medals is just incredible,” she said. “The most we have ever had in British Olympic Winter history and for Matt, being the most decorated male winter Olympian of all time is something really special.”
Not everything went to plan, however. Snowboard slopestyle favourite Mia Brookes, who won the world title as a 16-year-old, fell on both her runs in qualifying, finishing 16th and missing Tuesday’s final.
