Like London buses, Team GB waited for a gold at Milano Cortina 2026 before two came along in the same weekend.
After Matt Weston’s skeleton success on Friday night, Charlotte Bankes and Huw Nightingale joined forces to clinch mixed team snowboard cross gold.
Bankes, in her fourth Olympics, got that elusive first medal, and it was gold to boot, and Nightingale played a huge part.
The first to set off in the mixed team event, Nightingale put Bankes in prime position, finishing second by just 0.14 seconds to France’s Loan Bozzolo.
That allowed Bankes to do her thing, coming through to claim the gold to rapturous scenes.
Nightingale was the first to congratulate Bankes as the pair celebrated gold, with his parents Clive and Chris becoming viral sensations as they watched on in Livigno.
It has been some journey for the 24-year-old.
Born in Bolton, Nightingale honed his craft in snowboard cross thanks to a move to Austria where his parents had opened a B&B, in Westendorf, some 15km from the legendary Kitzbühel.
Stop what you're doing and watch Huw Nightingale's parents reacting to their son winning Olympic gold 😂❤️ pic.twitter.com/lkRrAJuHil
— TNT Sports (@tntsports) February 15, 2026
A first senior victory on the FIS circuit followed at 18 in Czechia in 2020 while he finished fourth at the Junior World Championships in 2021, with Canada’s Eliot Grondin taking the gold.
Grondin has since gone on to take back-to-back individual silver medals at the Olympics, just to give you an idea of the pedigree.
Nightingale made his own Olympic debut in Beijing, going out in the 1/8 final in the individual event, before he and Bankes had to settle for sixth in the mixed team.
They bounced back by winning the world title in 2023, and have enjoyed plenty more success on the World Cup circuit despite Bankes being sidelined by injury for much of this season.
Coming into these Games, he knew that there was a very real possibility of a medal in the team event, and even predicted how they would achieve it.
Speaking ahead of the Olympics, Nightingale said: “You go into the Games and you're always looking at medals. If I ride the way that I can ride and I want to ride then the result will come and hopefully show that.
“I know that [Charlotte] is an incredible rider and makes my life a lot easier, so I have to try and make hers as easy as possible.
“It takes a bit less pressure off me going first, I just want to show that I can perform beforehand and then give her a good run after.
“You don't have to be first in the team event for me, I can be second and draft a lot and overtake further down. I try and put her in the best position I can so she can deliver us gold.”
Nightingale did his part and then Bankes delivered the gold as he had planned. A job well done and a piece of history as the pair became the first athletes from Team GB to take an Olympic gold on snow.