Royal Family celebrate Great Britain’s first ever gold on snow as King’s brother joins athletes
The Royal Family have celebrated Great Britain’s first ever gold medal on snow as Prince Edward joined athletes in Milan, Italy.
Taking to Instagram, the royals sent their “congratulations to Charlotte Bankes and Huw Nightingale” for their success.
The pair won the snowboard cross mixed team event with Ms Bankes saying she was “lost for words”.
She told the BBC: “Huw put me in an amazing position, he’s been riding extremely well and rode today to his full potential.
Prince Edward joined Charlotte Bankes and Huw Nightingale in their celebrations | PA“I was in that start gate, knowing I was going for gold.”
The pair suffered heartbreak in their individual events as Ms Bankes was knocked out in the quarter-finals, and Mr Nightingale fell short and “had a little cry” in his bed.
Following the win, Mr Nightingale said: “It’s immense. I think we push each other well, and for me, I know that Charlotte Bankes is behind me, and she’s such an incredible rider that it kind of loosens me up.
“I know that when I’m loose, I can ride really well, and I think we’ve shown that today. The singles were tough, but now there are tears of joy.”
Edward is the patron of GB Snowsport
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PA
The Duke of Edinburgh joined the pair to congratulate them, as he took in the action.
Edward is the patron of GB Snowsport and has been meeting and celebrating with athletes at the games.
It has been a historic Winter Olympics for Team GB, with Matt Weston etching his name into British sporting history by becoming the first athlete from the UK to secure two gold medals at a single games.
Never before had Team GB claimed two gold medals on a single day at a Winter Olympics.
Matt Weston won Team GB their first-ever gold medal in skeleton | GETTYThe victory, secured alongside Tabby Stoecker in the skeleton mixed team, came on the same day as the mixed team snowboard gold.
Mr Weston won his first on Friday evening at the Cortina Sliding Centre, while Ms Stoecker finished in fifth in the women’s event on Saturday.
As a team, they were sitting in second place behind Germany before Weston secured the victory by 0.17 seconds.
Fellow Britons Marcus Wyatt and Freya Tarbit were pushed into fourth place by the second German team.
Ms Bankes and Mr Nightingale were jubilant after winning gold at the Winter Olympics
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GETTYFollowing the triumph, Mr Weston said: “Luckily, I felt like I knew what I needed to do.
“I took a load of confidence from the individual event, and I almost had to ‘be boring’ to get the job done and do it again.”
Ms Stoecker added: “I can’t believe it. It’s a team effort, and when Matt came down, and we were in the green, I was just in shock.”
Team GB now have three golds for the Winter Olympics this month.
