Charlotte Bankes became Britain's first snowboarding world champion with a dramatic run to snowboard cross gold in Idre Fjall, Sweden.
The 25-year-old, born in Hemel Hempstead, upgraded her silver medal from 2019 in a statement victory with less than a year to go until the 2022 Olympic Winter Games.
Pending qualification and selection, Bankes is poised to make a big impact on Team GB debut in Beijing having changed licences from France to Great Britain in 2018.
Bankes said: "It's pretty amazing, I think I've had a great few days here. It's been a really fun course, it's just amazing to be able to pull all the runs together.
Charlotte Bankes standing on the podium in IdreFjäll, Sweden having upgraded her Silver medal 🥈 from the 2019 @fissnowboard Cross World Championships in Utah, to a Gold in 2021🥇🎉 pic.twitter.com/RigSDFsQmH
— GB Snowsport (@GBSnowsport) February 11, 2021
The six-time World Cup medallist qualified quickest on Tuesday and looked by far the fastest in the field to finish first in her quarter and semi-finals.
In the final the Brit drafted reigning world champion Eva Samkova before taking the lead - staying on her feet after a fraught penultimate jump to claim a white-knuckle win.
"I think the final was tight racing: unfortunately I made a mistake at the end," said Bankes, who inadvertently caused Australian Belle Brockhoff to ski out of the race.
"It's a shame for Belle (Brockhoff), I'm really sorry for her, it was a really tight race and unfortunately, she crashed out because of me, but I'm happy I managed to stay on my feet and keep it through the line"
Bankes’s silver medal at the 2019 event in Utah was Britain’s first World Championship medal in snowboarding.
Evelyn Pinching was the first British woman to win global gold on snow with victory in the downhill and combined at the 1936 Alpine World Championships in Innsbruck, Austria.
James Woods became the first British man to become a world champion on snow in 2019 with slopestyle gold.
Sportsbeat 2021