Snowboard star Charlotte Bankes is using her sport's summer equivalent as inspiration for yet more success at the Beijing Olympic Winter Games.
Bankes watched on as Beth Shriever and Kye Whyte captured the nation’s hearts and attention with their gold and silver in BMX racing last summer at Tokyo 2020.
The snowboard cross athlete knows exactly what it takes to reach a global podium – having claimed silver at the 2019 World Championship before upgrading to gold in Idre last year – but is representing Team GB at an Olympics for the first time at Beijing 2022.
And the 26-year-old hopes the constant excitement of snowboard cross will get the people of Britain out of bed in the early mornings and on the edge of their seats.
“That [BMX racing in Tokyo] was a great race and they did super well – it is great to see that and it's also an inspiration to try and do the same thing in February, hopefully,” said Bankes.
“Snowboard cross normally at the Olympics does pretty well in terms of the audiences and people love it.
“It is something that kids as well can look up to and think, ‘Oh yeah, we can do that’ and it's quite a good sport because it has a bit of everything in snowboarding put together.
“It's just simple because it's racing four by four and the first to get to the bottom wins, so it's pretty simple. That's what I like about the sport.”
Bankes moved from the UK to the French Alps aged four and soon took up snowboarding, following in the snow tracks of her brothers, William and Thomas.
Her ascent has been rapid ever since and gold in Beijing is the natural target following her World Championship success, where she beat both the reigning Olympic (Michela Moioli) and world (Eva Samková) champions.
🇬🇧Here's how Charlotte Bankes became Britain's first snowboarding world champion.
— Team GB (@TeamGB) February 11, 2021
Watch until the end! 🤯pic.twitter.com/or08juVquh
It saw her become the first British woman to claim a world title in a winter sport for 85 years and she is eager to use that as a springboard to Olympic glory.
If her 2022 form is anything to go by, she has a good shot. In five World Cup events, she's won three golds and is on course to win the snowboard cross Crystal Globe.
“The World Championships were pretty amazing and it's nice to be on top with the GB flag and representing all that on the big scene,” added Bankes.
“But just winning races and winning World Cups is also a goal and that's how I race anyway.
“It's just trying to be in front in every race I do and have fun, but for sure the Olympics is a big goal.
“I did a good race in Sweden last year [to win World Championship gold], but I think in our sport everything changes from track to track and from day to day.
“Everybody's been working hard all summer and it's just good to know that I managed to be in the mix last season and had some good results in the World Cup as well, so it's not just one result.
“My aim at the end of the season was not just to finish with the World Championship title it was also to do well on the World Cup to prove a bit to myself that it was deserved and it wasn’t a one-off race.
“I just need to go into the Olympics in the same mentality where I just want to give it my all and we'll see the result."