The first ever Olympic Mixed Team Snowboard Cross event saw some strong racing from the British team
After disappointment in the individual competitions, Charlotte Bankes and Huw Nightingale returned to Genting Snow Park last night to record an excellent sixth place finish in the first ever Mixed Team Snowboard Cross event at an Olympic Winter Games.
Coming safely through the Quarter Finals, the British pair were squeezed out in the Semi Finals before taking 2nd in the Small Final behind the German team of Martin Noerl and Jana Fischer to take sixth overall.
Speaking after the race, Charlotte Bankes said:
“I’m not quite over [the individual event] but I’ve been coming out here with the team today and the team’s worked amazingly well to get me back on it.
“It was good motivation to just have a good race today and not focus on what’s happened beforehand.
“Huw’s been riding really well and I’m really proud of how he’s done.
“I saw Huw make a mistake at the start but he didn’t give up and he pushed until the end and that’s great.
“I think it’s something we all need to learn from, to never give up and push to the end and think the team brings that on as well.
“Just pushing to try and do the best that we can is what they’ve taught us, and we didn’t give up, we pushed as hard as we could and that’s good.”
Huw Nightingale said:
“I came here with nothing to lose. To do a small final here with Charlotte is just a great achievement for me.
“She’s taught me loads of things. Through the whole preseason she’s just helped me through everything so it’s very appreciated.”
Header Image: Huw Nightingale for Team GB in the Men’s Snowboard Cross Seeding Run 2 at the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games on the 10th February 2022 at Genting Snow Park in Zhangjakou, China. Photo by Sam Mellish / Team GB.