Charlotte Bankes hopes clinching Olympic gold can unleash her best performances yet on snow.
Bankes stormed to mixed team snowboard cross gold alongside Huw Nightingale at Milano Cortina 2026, with Bankes earning her first Olympic medal at her fourth Games.
She revealed finally achieving the goal she has chased for so long has lifted a weight off of her shoulders – something she believes can power her to even more success in the future.
The 30-year-old is the current snowboard cross leader in the Snowboard World Cup and insists she is out to simply enjoy the remaining five races, with the hope that results follow.
“I am looking forward to it,” she said. “I can go out there with less pressure, this was the main goal we have been working towards for the next four years.
“I am looking forward to going out there and riding to my best level, hopefully with less pressure it can translate to success.
“I just want to enjoy it. We have worked hard, been training hard, so just capitalise on it.”
Bankes, who carried the Union Flag alongside Matt Weston at the closing ceremony, admitted that the initial wave of attention after winning gold was slightly overwhelming. She managed to briefly escape the spotlight to make use of some fresh snow and see her dogs, before returning to the UK as part of Team GB’s homecoming where the enormity of her achievement really hit.
“Straight after the race it was mental. Sharing that with the whole team and our families was special,” she said.
“Coming back to London is more when it has sunk in, you reflect a bit on what has happened over the past few weeks.
“It has hit a wide audience and that’s great. Having the Games in Europe and having such a successful Games for Team GB has meant that there has been amazing support back home.
“It is great to see that, it is great that support and hopefully that will mean more people getting into it and we can inspire them to go further and hopefully create a pathway for more kids to come into our sport.”
Getting more people on the slopes is something Bankes wants to use her platform to encourage – though she isn’t too fussed if it ends up a different sport either.
“It is just getting more people to have a go. Try it and then they will see if they enjoy it. For me, it is about getting more people into sport in general,” she added.
“Sport reflects what happens in life, to be able to bounce back from things. There are lessons in life we can share with the wider public.
“Hopefully our stories can inspire people. It is just not just the sport; it is the journeys of all the athletes.
“These Games have been able to highlight that; there have been some incredible journeys for people that maybe haven’t had quite the success but there have been some incredible successes that just fell short of the medals. They are people to follow for the future.”
Sportsbeat 2026