Crystal Clobe winner and double World Championship medallist on March British Elite Athletes Association award shortlist
Snowboard stars Charlotte Bankes and Nina Sparks have been named in a four person shortlist for the British Elite Athletes Association Athlete of the Month award.
Voted on by elite athletes from across the British system, Bankes and Sparks have been nominated for a series of phenomenal performances in Snowboard Cross and Para Snowboard, which saw Bankes take the 2022/23 Crystal Globe alongside a Team Snowboard Cross World Championships title, while Sparks secured the overall Europa Cup title alongside two World Championships medals at the Para Snowboard World Championships in La Molina.
Alongside our two nominees are shooter Seonaid McIntosh and wheelchair fencer Gemma Collis, with the winners to be announced by the BEAA after the results of the athlete vote are confirmed.
The British Elite Athletes Association is the independent representative body for elite British athletes across over 40 sport, supporting and empowering its members by providing confidential guidance, collating and sharing the athlete voice, and equipping athletes with the skills needed to thrive in life.
British Snowboard Cross star in superlative form to take 2022/23 overall title, while more British stars shine as World Cup season draws to a close
Britain’s Charlotte Bankes took the second Snowboard Cross Crystal Globe of her career on a dramatic weekend of World Cup action on Canada’s Mt. St. Anne circuit.
Leading the standings going into the final weekend of the 2022/23 World Cup season, Bankes’ sixth straight race win in the weekend’s first race set her on the way to defending the title she first secured last season, with victory secured with a fifth place finish in the last race of the season.
Chloe Trespeuch’s second place finish in the first race left the French racer needing victory in the final competition to overhaul Bankes in the overall standings, with her eventual third place leaving the British star in top spot with 723 World Cup points to Trespeuch’s 650.
The result capped another remarkable season for Bankes, which saw her take victory in six of the nine World Cup meets, as well as a World Championships title in Team Snowboard Cross alongside Huw Nightingale.
Bankes’ back-to-back titles make her the first women’s Snowboard Cross athlete to defend the Crystal Globe since Canada’s Dominique Maltais who took a remarkable four consecutive titles between 2010/11 and 2013/14.
There was further success for Bankes’ Team Snowboard Cross teammate, Huw Nightingale, whose 23rd and 17th place finishes delivered the best World Cup results of his career to date, with the 21-year-old demonstrating impressive progress across the season.
Elsewhere, the Freestyle World Cup season also drew to a close in Silvaplana, with Mia Brookes taking fourth place in Freestyle Snowboard Slopestyle, while in Freeski Slopestyle Kirsty Muir took sixth, Tyler Harding tenth, and Chris McCormick 14th with both Harding and McCormick’s results their best of the season. Brookes’ result, meanwhile, secured third place for her in the overall Snowboard Slopestyle standings on a World Cup debut season capped most memorably by her World Championships title in Bakuriani.
In the Moguls Junior World Championships, Mateo Jeannesson took a brilliant third place in Dual Moguls to back up his fifth place in Single Moguls in a season which has seen the 18-year-old deliver a series of superb performances, while the Telemark World Championships saw Jaz Taylor take a brilliant brace of podiums with third in Classic and second in Parallel Sprint, giving her the best World Championships result of her career.
The Cross-Country squad delivered more impressive 2022/23 results with Andrew Musgrave taking his seventh top-10 place of the season with tenth place in the Lahti World Cup 20km C Mst, while James Clugnet and Andrew Young finished an impressive seventh in the Team Sprint Free in a strong field.
Moguls, Alpine Snowboard, Ski Cross and Snowboard Cross WJC selections announced today
Some of Britain’s most talented young snowsport athletes have been selected to represent their country at the Moguls, Alpine Snowboard, Ski Cross and Snowboard Cross World Junior Championships later this month.
In total, eight athletes have been selected across four squads. The Moguls World Junior Championships is the first to get underway on 21 March in Valmalenco, with Mateo Jeannesson the sole British competitor. The Alpine Snowboard World Junior Championships will see Sam Carpenter compete in Bansko between 22 and 27 March, with the Snowboard Cross and Ski Cross Championships following in Passo San Pellegrino from 27 March to 31 March, with Tommy Dade, Scott Johns, Patrick Young, Emily Keen, Mackenzie Patrick, and Osian de Bagota selected.
Full Selection Details
Moguls World Junior championships – Valmalenco – 21-25 March
- Mateo Jeannesson
Alpine Snowboard World Junior Championships – Bansko – 22-27 March
- Sam Carpenter
Ski Cross World Junior championships – Passo San Pellegrino – 27-28 March
- Tommy Dade (Individual and Team)
- Scott Johns
- Emily Keen (Individual and Team)
- Patrick Young
Snowboard Cross World Junior Championships – Passo San Pellegrino – 30-31 March
- Mackenzie Patrick
- Osian de Bagota
GB Snowsport wishes all athletes selected the best of luck in their Championships.
Charlotte Bankes took brilliant double World Cup wins as Britain’s 2022/23 medal count grew to 39
In her first World Cup competitions since the Bakuriani World Championships, Charlotte Bankes sealed brilliant back-to-back World Cup gold medals in the Sierra Nevada Snowboard Cross World Cup. The results mean she has now taken victory in each of the last four World Cup races and leaves her top of the 2023 Snowboard Cross Cup Standings, with 478 points to Chloe Trespeuch’s 460.
In both races, Bankes held off a strong challenge from Trespeuch, with the French Snowboard Cross star taking silver on each occasion, leaving the race for the Crystal Globe in the balance as the season moves towards its conclusion.
The men’s races, meanwhile, saw Huw Nightingale finish in 48th place.
There was also good news from the Para Snowboard Snowboard Cross races at the La Molina World Championships, where Nina Sparks took an excellent bronze medal in the opening weekend of the Championships. James Barnes-Miller and Ollie Hill were left empty handed after the opening races of the competition, but with Dual Banked Slalom races still to come, Britain has a chance to add further to an already excellent World Championships haul this season.
Sparks’ and Bankes’ results pushed Britain’s World Championships, World Cup, and X Games medal haul for the season to a scarcely believable 39 with podiums in every single discipline across the winter.
At Europa Cup level, Mateo Jeannesson took a superb Dual Moguls victory at the Engadin Europa Cup competition. One of the youngest competitors in the field, Jeannesson’s victory was the second time he’s climbed the podium this season, after victory in the Hintertux Open in November. Mateo’s brother, Tom, finished in 15th in Dual Moguls following a superb fourth place in Single Moguls a day earlier.
There was disappointment in Alpine at the Are World Cup for Charlie Guest and at the Kranjska Gora World Cup for Charlie Raposo, with each posting a DNF amid tricky race conditions.
In Telemark, Jazmin Taylor recorded the third World Cup podium of her season with bronze at the Krvavec Sprint World Cup, while in Cross Country Andrew Musgrave finished just outside of the top-10 with an 11th place finish in the Oslo World Cup 50km F Mass Start, which saw a remarkable Norwegian clean sweep of the top-10 places. Joe Davies, meanwhile, took a superb victory at the NCAA Championships with first place in the 10km F before a very promising sixth in the 20km C Mass Start.
This International Women’s Day, we look at women blazing a trail for GB Snowsport this season
By any measure – and with a few weeks of competition still to go – the 2022-23 season has been a spectacular success for British skiers and snowboarders. And in a year of unprecedented successes, one thing is clear – British women are etching their name into national snowsport history time and time again. This International Women’s Day, we take a closer look at the female athletes blazing a trail for GB Snowsport this season.
Mia Brookes
Where else to begin, except with perhaps the biggest breakout star in British sport this year? Mia Brookes’ name has been spoken with awe and excitement for years now by those in the know, but on her first season on the World Cup circuit the 16 year old’s raw promise has emerged as fully-fledged success.
From a podium on her Slopestyle World Cup debut in Laax in January to her breathtaking Slopestyle World Championships victory in Bakuriani this month, Mia is fast emerging as one of the most exciting sport talents in Britain. Plus, she’s already written her name into the history books as the first woman to land a cab-1440 in competition.
Zoe Atkin
You could be forgiven for thinking Zoe Atkin has been around forever – 2023 is, after all, her fifth year on the World Cup circuit. But the 20-year-old Freeski Halfpipe sensation has really come into her own this year, a rise she puts down in part to giving herself a mental break after the Olympic Winter Games in Beijing last year. And the results speak for themselves: Gold at X Games 2023, and a brace of silvers at the Bakuriani World Championships and Mammoth Mountain World Cup since the turn of the year.
Zoe’s result in Bakuriani saw her follow in sister Izzy’s footseteps be taking back-to-back World Championships medals, having previously taken bronze at the 2021 World Championships.
Charlotte Bankes
What is there to say about Charlotte Bankes, which hasn’t already been said? The reigning Snowboard Cross Crystal Globe holder remains a near-permanent fixture on the World Cup podium, but perhaps more impressive is her resilience and dedication in the face of adversity.
Elimination in the individual Snowboard Cross World Championships contest could have knocked any athlete from their stride, but Charlotte returned alongside Huw Nightingale to deliver a stunning Team Snowboard Cross World Championships title, the first in British history, and ensure she goes down as a back-to-back World Champion, having taken the solo title in 2021.
Kirsty Muir
At 18, Kirsty Muir is already recognised as one of the finest Slopestyle and Big Air skiers in world snowsport, and her performances this year have done nothing to undermine that reputation. Whether it’s double bronze medals at X Games 2023, World Cup silver at Mammoth Mountain in February, or a fourth place that left her agonisingly close to a Big Air medal at the Bakuriani World Championships having suffered an injury ahead of the Slopestyle competition that left any question of participation at the Championships up in the air, Kirsty’s continued excellence marks her out as one of the world’s best despite her young age.
Nina Sparks
In a remarkable season for the Para Snowboard squad, Nina Sparks has shown her promise with a superb overall victory in the Europa Cup competition. In landing the overall title, she joined fellow teammates James Barnes-Miller and Ollie Hill in taking overall titles, with her two compatriots doing so on their respective World Cup circuits.
In a season full of breakthrough performances, the biggest challenges still lie ahead, with the rescheduled La Molina World Championships getting underway this week, and offering another opportunity for Nina to show her talent on the biggest stages.
Menna Fitzpatrick and Katie Guest
Winter Olympic gold medalist. Three time World Champion. Multiple World Cup medalist. Britain’s most decorated Winter Paralympian. And still just 24 years old.
Menna Fitzpatrick is a phenomenon, and her performances alongside her guide, Katie Guest, this season have continued to show why she is so highly respected on the Para Alpine circuit. Another two medals – a silver and a bronze – at the Para Alpine World Championships added to a medal collection which is near unsurpassed in any British winter sport. A legend of the sport, and an icon in British Paralympic history.
Makayla Gerken Schofield
A trailblazer alongside her siblings, Makayla became the second Gerken Schofield (after her brother, Tom) to achieve a World Cup podium with her bronze medal in Val St Come earlier this year, and the first woman in British history to achieve a Moguls World Cup podium.
Indeed, so exceptional have Makayla’s performances been this season that she has only once dipped below the top-10 on the World Cup stage, before delivering another pair of top-10s including a stunning sixth place in Dual Moguls at the Bakuriani World Championships. A fierce competitor, and a superb talent.
Jaz Taylor
One of the most pre-eminent names in the world of Telemark skiing, Jaz Taylor’s performances this season have added another two World Cup podiums to her already astonishing tally of performances over recent seasons.
With World Championships also on the horizon, Jaz has every opportunity to continue her role as one of Britain’s pre-eminent snowsport athletes.
With two gold and one silver medals, Britain emerged from the Bakuriani 2023 Freestyle World Championships on a historic high
After a remarkable two weeks in Bakuriani, Britain’s ski and snowboard athletes returned from the 2023 Freestyle Ski and Snowboard World Championships with two World Championship titles and a stunning silver medal to deliver Britain’s most successful World Championships of all time.
Here, we run down the key results from another history-making moment in a stunning 2022-23 season for GB Snowsport athletes
Gold, Gold, Silver
- Mia Brookes – Freestyle Snowboard Slopestyle – Gold
- Charlotte Bankes and Huw Nightingale – Team Snowboard Cross – Gold
- Zoe Atkin – Freeski Halfpipe – Silver
top-10s
- Makayla Gerken Schofield – Moguls – Ninth
- Makayla Gerken Schofield – Dual Moguls – Sixth
- Mia Brookes – Freestyle Snowboard Big Air – Fifth
- Kirsty Muir – Freeski Big Air – Fourth
Medal Tables
- Tenth – Overall Medal Table
- Third – Snowboard Medal Standings
Bankes and Nightingale bounce back from disappointment of individual events to take stunning team gold
The British pair took gold in a thrillingly contested Final, edging out the Austrian and French teams into silver and bronze, having earlier overcome the USA, Switzerland and France’s second team in the semi-finals draw.
The result marks the first time that Britain has taken a World Championships Team Snowboard Cross podium since the discipline was introduced at the Sierra Nevada World Championships in 2017, and sees Bankes return her second World Championships following her win in the individual event in 2021, and Nightingale named a World Champion on his debut at this level.
Speaking afterwards, Huw Nightingale said:
“It’s unbelievable. I can’t really describe it right now to be honest. It’s just so fulfilling.”
Charlotte Bankes said:
“It was a crazy race in tough conditions but we managed it really well thanks to the team around us. We both rode at our best today, like we’ve been riding in training and that’s just amazing to be able to come away with the gold medal together.
“The team put us in the best conditions. I’m so pleased that we were able to stick it down today.”
GB Snowsport Chief Executive, Vicky Gosling, said:
“We’re all so proud of Huw and Charlotte this morning. As a team, they’ve worked so hard in the build-up to these World Championships, and to see them go out there, perform like they did, and bring home the World Championships title is absolutely amazing. We’re all so delighted for them.”
GB Snowsport Head Coach, Pat Sharples, said:
“It’s sort of hard to put today into words. After the disappointment of yesterday, today’s win for Charlotte and Huw makes it even more special. Huw performed at his absolute best we’ve ever seen him in competition and shown he’s going to be a big contender in this sport for many years to come!
“Charlotte Bankes once again proved she’s the best in the world. Huge props to the team behind the team; the coaches and support staff. Every one of them deserves this win.”
Five 2022/23 World Cup podium holders have been named in a 13 athlete British squad who will travel to Bakuriani for the 2023 Freestyle World Championships this month
Zoe Atkin (Freeski Halfpipe World Cup Gold, Mammoth Mountain; X Games Superpipe Gold), Mia Brookes (Snowboard Slopestyle World Cup Silver, Laax), Makayla Gerken-Schofield (Dual Moguls World Cup Bronze, Val St. Come), Kirsty Muir (Freeski Slopestyle World Cup Silver, Mammoth Mountain; X Games Slopestyle Bronze; X Games Big Air Bronze) and reigning World Champion Charlotte Bankes (Snowboard Cross World Cup Gold, Cervinia and Cortina, World Cup Bronze Cervinia) headline a squad that features two debutants in Brookes and Beijing 2022 Snowboard Cross Olympian Huw Nightingale.
Freeski
A four-person Freeski Slopestyle and Big Air squad brings a collective 15 World Championships under their belts with 2019 Slopestyle World Champion, James Woods, lining up alongside Tyler Harding in his fourth World Championships, Chris McCormick competing for the third time and Kirsty Muir in her second Championships. Zoe Atkin, meanwhile, will compete in her third World Championships in Freeski Halfpipe, having taken bronze in the 2021 Championships in Aspen.
Snowboard Cross and Ski Cross
Charlotte Bankes and Huw Nightingale will reprise their Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games in the Snowboard Cross Team Event, while Bankes will be looking to defend the World Championships title she secured at the 2021 World Championships in Idre Fjall.
In Ski Cross, Ollie Davies will be the sole British representative on his third World Championships, having taken an exceptional fourth place at the 2021 Idre Fjall Championships.
Freestyle Snowboard
On her World Championships debut, Mia Brookes will be the sole British Freestyle Snowboard competitor, where she is set to compete in both the Slopestyle and Big Air competitions. Brookes comes into the Championships on the back of an outstanding debut World Cup season which has seen her notch three top-10 finishes, including a silver medal at her last World Cup in Laax in January.
Moguls
The Moguls competitions will Makayla Gerken-Schofield, Will Feneley, Tom Gerken-Schofield and Mateo Jeannesson representing British interests, in a season which has seen Makayla Gerken-Schofield take the first World Cup podium of her career, Jeannesson break into the World Cup top-20 for the first time, and Feneley match his best ever World Cup result with an eighth place finish in Dual Moguls at this month’s Deer Valley World Cup. The team will be looking to Tom Gerken-Schofield’s sixth place at the 2021 Almaty World Championships for inspiration with a rich combination of experience and form to draw on from the season to date.
Freestyle Snowboarders Maisie Hill and Katie Ormerod, both of whom met selection qualification criteria, miss out on the Championships through injury.
The Bakuriani Freestyle World Championships begin on 18 February with the first British athlete due to be in action on 23 February, with the Ski Cross Qualification rounds.
Full Squad Selections
Snowboard Cross
- Charlotte Bankes
- Huw Nightingale
Ski Cross
- Ollie Davies
Freeski – Slopestyle and Big Air
- Tyler Harding
- Chris McCormick
- Kirsty Muir
- James Woods
Freeski – Halfpipe
- Zoe Atkin
Freestyle Snowboard – Slopestyle and Big Air
- Mia Brookes
Moguls
- Will Feneley
- Makayla Gerken-Schofield
- Tom Gerken-Schofield
- Mateo Jeannesson
Header Image: Kirsty Muir competes during the Women’s Freeski Big Air Finals on day three of the Toyota U.S. Grand Prix at Copper Mountain Resort on December 16, 2022 in Copper Mountain, Colorado. (Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images)
GB Snowsport athletes added another four podiums to what is fast becoming one of the country’s most successful ski and snowboard seasons in history on another weekend of gripping competition.
Topping the bill, Snowboard Cross Crystal Globe holder Charlotte Bankes recorded her second World Cup victory of the season at the Cortina d’Ampezzo World Cup in a typically dominant display of Snowboard Cross racing. The result – her first World Cup win in Cortina – moves Bankes up to second in the season’s overall standings, behind Chloe Trespeuch who Bankes beat into third place with Faye Gulini taking second spot, and Manon Petit Lenoir fourth. In the men’s races, Huw Nightingale came in in 41st place.
Fresh from their X Games heroics, Kirsty Muir and Zoe Atkin also both returned to the World Cup podium this weekend at the Mammoth Mountain Freestyle World Cup. In the Freeski Slopestyle competition, Muir put down a superb demonstration of Slopestyle skiing to take second place in the standings, matching in the process her career best World Cup result from Aspen in 2021. Muir’s score of 84.00 left her just 2.00 points behind Johanne Killi in top spot, and continues a run of form which has seen Muir finish inside the top-8 in seven consecutive World Cup competitions, dating back to March 2021.
In Freeski Halfpipe, Zoe Atkin took the third World Cup podium of her career and joined Muir in taking second place on the podium in her first World Cup competition of the season, straight off the back of her spectacular victory at X Games last weekend. A huge score of 92.75 was only just beaten by China’s Kexin Zhang who topped the podium with 93.50 in a contest that demonstrated again the reasons that Atkin, at just 20 years of age, is so highly rated within the sport.
In the men’s competitions, James Pouch bagged his best ever World Cup result with 32nd place in Slopestyle, just ahead of Tayler Harding in 35th and Tom Greenway, in only the third World Cup entry of his career, coming in 43rd.
On the Europa Cup circuit, meanwhile, Ash Clayton took a brilliant double podium with second place in Big Air and third place in Slopestyle at La Clusaz EC. The results gave Clayton the first EC podiums of their career, having competed in only one previous EC level competition.
Laurie Taylor also notched a career best World Cup result in the Chamonix Slalom World Cup, ending the weekend in 23rd position. Taylor, who is part of the squad that will travel to the Alpine World Championships, was joined in the second run by Dave Ryding who was pushing hard until a straddle prematurely ended his race. Billy Major, meanwhile, was unfortunate not to qualify finishing not far outside of the second run qualification spots.
The weekend’s final British podium fell to Telemark star Jaz Taylor who took third place in the second of two World Cup Sprint races in Les Contamines-Montjoie for her first podium of the season. The earlier of the week’s races saw her finish fifth while, in the men’s races, Timote Gough took a promising 17th place finish.
James Clugnet and Andrew Young continued their preparations for the Cross-Country World Championships with three races in the Toblach World Cup, the pick of the results coming in a 12th place finish as part of a FIS team in the 4 x 7.5km Relay. In the Sprint F, Clugnet took 28th and Young 41st, while Young finished in 36th spot in the 10km F with Clugnet in 57th.
Meanwhile, the Moguls squad travelled to Deer Valley for the latest in their World Cup tour. Will Feneley had the best of the weekend’s action with 8th place in the Dual Moguls competition, matching his best ever World Cup result from Alpe d’Huez in December. Makayla Gerken Schofield came 11th in the Single Moguls competition, Mateo Jeannesson finished 19th in Dual Moguls and 21st in Single Moguls, and Thomas Gerken-Schofield 25th in Single Moguls.
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