Charlotte Bankes made history on the Park City piste with Great Britain's very first Freestyle World Championships medal, claiming silver in the snowboard cross.
The 23-year-old, who switched back to Great Britain after representing France, had to battle adversity, with silverware in the United States a line in the sand after long-term recovery from a pelvis injury in 2011.
Bankes had already claimed three World Cup titles but a place on the World Championship podium topped the lot as she helped her country to make history on the slopes.
“This one is above them all,” she said.
“I’ve always struggled in the one-day events, I’ve never ridden that well but this was fun, everything seemed to go to plan. It’s nice after all the hard work which everyone has put in.
“It’s great to actually be enjoying snowboarding again, to be pain free. It was fun racing, a fun final.
“It was always going to be tough; Eva (Samkova)and Michela (Moioli), they’re both Olympic gold medallists but it was just really good hard, fun racing.
Bankes, who finished seventh in the discipline in PyeongChang, raced through her qualification before leaving the competition in her powder in the semi-finals.
That set up a big final against two former Olympic champions in Samkova and Moioli, with the Italian’s compatriot Francesca Gallina making up the final four.
But Bankes refused to be awed by the occasion, bursting out of the starting blocks to lead before the Samkova settled into the lead.
Bankes sat on her tail throughout, searching desperately for a way around, but Samkova’s experience told as she repeatedly shut the door.
The Brit didn’t look back and put distance between herself and the Italian pair, making sure of a medal in the process.
Despite her best efforts, she could not haul in the Czech, who saw out the race in professional style, with Bankes left to toast a ground-breaking achievement, nevertheless.
Sportsbeat 2019