A drinking session, a punch on the nose, an equipment malfunction. It sounds like a typical Saturday night in Hemel Hempstead or Bolton. But it turned out to be the unlikely recipe behind Team GB’s first gold medal on snow at the Winter Olympics – after 102 years of trying.
Amid dramatic scenes in Livigno, Charlotte Bankes and Huw Nightingale carved their way into Team GB history with a staggering display of devilry and nerve to secure mixed snowboard cross glory. For good measure, it was the first leg of what turned out to be Britain’s greatest day at the Winter Games with Tabitha Stoecker and Matt Weston also later winning gold.
