Blow for GB medal hopes as Bankes falls short
Favourite Charlotte Bankes was eliminated at the quarter-final stage as American veteran Lindsey Jacobellis claimed an extraordinary first Olympic gold medal in women’s snowboard-cross at the age of 36.
Bankes’ shock exit was a crushing blow for Great Britain, who had high hopes that the reigning world champion would provide their first medal of an increasingly testing Beijing Games, and potentially a first gold on snow.
Instead it was Jacobellis, competing in her fifth Olympics and best known for snatching defeat from the jaws of victory in 2006 when she attempted an unnecessary trick on her final jump and fell, who finally sealed her long-awaited gold.
Bankes had eased through the qualification round and her eighth final and looked in of elimination when she held a 10-metre lead at the halfway stage of her four-athlete quarter-final race.
Bankes looked every inch the pre-event favourite, the result of soaring to her first World Championship title in 2021.
But after pushing wide on a steep fifth bank, she lost momentum, allowing Canada’s Tess Critchlow to sneak inside while Belle Brock ho ff moved in to seize the second qualifying slot as the Briton lost momentum. It marked an abrupt ending for the 26-year-old-Bankes, competing in her third Olympics.
“I gave it my all but it’s frustrating to have the worst race of my season here at the Olympics,” said Bankes, who will have a chance to redeem herself in the snowboard-cross team event alongside Huw Nightingale.
“I’ m disappointed and frustrated with how it went .”