Britain celebrated a historic day at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milano Cortina on Sunday, securing gold medals in both the mixed snowboard cross and mixed team skeleton events. The victories elevate Team GB’s medal count and mark a high point for British winter sports.
The day began with a surprise win for Charlotte Bankes and Huw Nightingale in the mixed snowboard cross at Livigno. Bankes, competing in her second Olympics, dramatically overtook the French team with just four turns remaining to clinch the gold. The victory was particularly notable given Bankes’ recent recovery from a collarbone surgery, as reported by news outlets covering the Games.
Less than five hours later, Tabitha Stoecker and Matt Weston added a second gold medal for Team GB in the mixed team skeleton at Cortina. Weston, after Stoecker’s initial run, successfully overturned a 0.30-second deficit to defeat Germany by a mere 0.17 seconds. This win too cemented Weston’s place in British Olympic history, making him joint-most decorated British Winter Olympian alongside Lizzy Yarnold, having previously won gold in the individual skeleton event on Friday.
“I’m extremely proud of what I’ve been able to achieve in the past couple of days,” Weston said. “To win the first ever team event is absolutely amazing – and to win it with such a great teammate is the icing on the cake.”
Eve Muirhead, Team GB’s chef de mission, hailed the double gold as an “incredible” achievement, noting it was the most gold medals Britain had ever won at a Winter Olympics. She also highlighted Weston’s accomplishment as the most decorated male winter Olympian of all time. Muirhead acknowledged a gradual start to the Games for Team GB but emphasized the team’s resilience and positive attitude.
“Getting two gold medals is just incredible,” Muirhead stated. “It was a slightly slow start, we knew that. But we were patient, we kept the vibe up. We kept particularly positive because we knew we were going to have opportunities to come.”
Despite the successes, the day wasn’t without disappointment for Team GB. Mia Brookes, a pre-Games favourite in the snowboard slopestyle event after winning the world title at age 16, struggled in qualifying. She fell on both of her runs, finishing 16th overall and failing to qualify for Tuesday’s final.
