Great Britain has written a new chapter in its Winter Olympic history, securing its most successful single day at the Games with two gold medals at Milano Cortina 2026, a haul that also marks the first time the nation has ever won more than one gold at a Winter Olympics.
The historic “Super Sunday” began on the snow of Livigno, where Charlotte Bankes and Huw Nightingale stormed to a dramatic victory in the mixed snowboard cross. In a tense finale, Bankes executed a stunning overtake on the French team with just four turns remaining to clinch gold, securing not only her first Olympic medal at her fourth Games, but also Great Britain’s first-ever Olympic gold medal won on snow.
The pair, who previously made history by winning the mixed team title at the 2023 World Championships, were a formidable unit. Nightingale, who spent much of his youth in Austria where his family ran a B&B, set the stage by finishing second in his leg. For Bankes, a dominant force in the sport, the victory was the pinnacle of a remarkable career. The two-time overall World Cup champion and 2021 World Champion previously competed for France, winning a World Championship silver in 2017, before switching allegiance to Great Britain in 2018, a journey that included overcoming a serious injury.
Weston Enters the Record Books
Less than five hours later in Cortina, the gold rush continued as Matt Weston and Tabitha Stoecker triumphed in the inaugural mixed team skeleton event. Weston, showing remarkable composure, overturned a 0.30-second deficit from Stoecker’s run to beat Germany by a margin of 0.17 seconds.
This victory cemented an extraordinary Games for Weston, who had already won individual men’s skeleton gold just two days prior. The double victory makes him the joint most decorated British Winter Olympian in history, equalling the record held by the iconic skeleton racer Lizzy Yarnold. He is also the first British man to win an Olympic gold in skeleton and the first Briton to win multiple medals at the same Winter Olympics.
Weston’s path to history was paved with record-breaking performances; he set new track records in each of his four runs in the individual event. His athletic journey is unconventional, having previously practised taekwondo and rugby before joining the British Skeleton program via a talent identification scheme after an injury. He is a multiple World Champion and a three-time overall World Cup title winner.
His teammate, Tabitha Stoecker, a former British Schools Gymnastics Champion who joined the skeleton programme in 2019, also played a crucial role. A junior European champion and double junior world silver medalist, she won her first World Cup event in 2023.
Legacy and Perspective
Weston’s achievement invites comparison with Lizzy Yarnold, a towering figure in British winter sport. Yarnold was the first British athlete to retain an Olympic title and the first to win two gold medals at the Winter Olympics, inspiring the current generation. Reflecting on his own place in history, Weston said, “I’m extremely proud of what I’ve been able to achieve in the past couple of days. 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.”
The two gold medals propelled Great Britain to 12th in the medal table, with three golds in total. Team GB’s chef de mission, Eve Muirhead, hailed the unprecedented success. “Getting two gold medals is just incredible,” she said. “The most we have ever had in British Olympic Winter history and for Matt, being the most decorated male winter Olympian of all time is something really special.”
She acknowledged the team’s initial progress, stating, “It was a slightly slow start, we knew that. But we were patient, we kept the vibe up. We kept very positive because we knew we were going to have opportunities to come.”
The day was not without disappointment, however. In the snowboard slopestyle, the highly-fancied Mia Brookes, who won the world title as a 16-year-old in 2023 to become the youngest-ever snowboard world champion and has since secured X Games gold in 2024 and 2026, saw her Olympic hopes falter. She fell on both her qualifying runs, finishing 16th overall and missing out on Tuesday’s final.
