LIVIGNO, Italy, Feb 15 (Reuters) - Britain's Charlotte Bankes and Huw Nightingale won gold in themixed team snowboard cross at the Winter Olympics on Sunday, bouncing back from disappointment in their individual races.
Under a clear blue sky in the alpine resort of Livigno, Italy's Michela Moioli and Lorenzo Sommariva claimed silver, while France's Lea Casta and Loan Bozzolo earned bronze.
Bankes had finished 13th in the women's snowboard cross final on Friday, while Nightingale ended in 26th place in the men's event the previous day.
The winning pair were all smiles on Sunday, however, pumping their fists in the air after climbing onto the top of the podium before closing their eyes to sing the national anthem.
Nightingale, 24, said it felt "unbelievable" to be wearing an Olympic gold medal around his neck. "It's hard to describe in words. We both put in so much hard work. It just feels amazing."
Bankes, 30, said her coach told her to go out and have fun after her earlier loss. "I had to pick myself back up and do it for the team as well," she said.
PODIUM SELFIES
The British, Italian and French medallists capped their victories with group hugs and posed for selfies as France's Bozzolo took out his mobile phone.
"I have a medal now, I will try to take more medals in the next Olympics. It’s going to be in France. It will be a new motivation for my career," the 26-year-old Frenchman said.
Britain were in second place after the first leg of the final run by the men, but Bankes secured them the gold in the second run after she overtook France's Casta.
Home crowd favourite Moioli - part of the Italian mixed team that took silver at the last Olympics - also managed to outrun Casta for the runners-up position.
It was the second Milano Cortina medal for Moioli, who won bronze in the individual women's snowboard cross final last week.
"We are very happy, we both deserved it, we had a really good race and now it's the time to celebrate," the 30-year-old Italian told Reuters, standing beside Sommariva.
There was disappointment for the U.S., the mixed team gold medallists in 2022, as Nick Baumgartner and Faye Thelen, both on their fifth Olympics, were eliminated in the quarter-finals.
Australia's Josie Baff, gold medallist in the women's final, missed out on the podium after her partner Adam Lambert fell in the first leg of the mixed team final. The pair finished fourth.
(Reporting by Alvise Armellini, editing by Ken Ferris, Hugh Lawson and Christian Radnedge)
