GB snowboarder Bankes wins first World Cup race since breaking collarbone

Charlotte Bankes, a British snowboarder, won her first Snowboard Cross World Cup competition in Dongbeiya since breaking her collarbone in April.

The 30-year-old showed promise as she entered the Winter Games in Milan-Cortina, passing the Chinese resort’s qualifying process as the fastest athlete and claiming both her quarter- and semi-final victories.

Then, to cap off the second World Cup competition of the year, Bankes won the Big Final, beating Josie Baff of Australia and Chloe Trespeuch of France.

The victory is Bankes’ first podium appearance since she won the Gudauri World Cup the same month as she took bronze at the Montafon World Cup in March.

The two-time Crystal Globe winner is now looking poised to challenge for an Olympic medal in Italy after fully recovering from the injury she sustained at the end of last year’s World Cup.

Bankes, the then-reigning world champion, was eliminated from the 2022 Beijing Games quarter-finals.

Dongbeiya will host a second race on Sunday as part of the 2026 Winter Olympics, which will begin on February 6.

Neil Simpson also won the Saalbach World Cup Super G races on Friday, earning his third World Cup podium of the week.

Simpson won gold at the 2022 Paralympic Winter Games and the 2023 World Championships while competing with guide Rob Poth for his first Super G World Cup podium in the same category.