Charlotte Bankes’ brilliant season ended in style as she secured bronze in the final snowboard cross World Cup race of the campaign in Veysonnaz, Switzerland.
The 25-year-old has made her Olympic goals known after becoming Britain’s first ever snowboarding world champion, alongside earning a first World Cup win for two years earlier this season.
And, if her form is anything to go by, her rivals will need to watch out in Beijing next year as a second podium of the World Cup season saw her take fifth in the overall standings.
Here, Bankes finished behind two illustrious rivals who she will have one eye on toppling in the future – in Czech Republic’s Eva Samkova, who took victory, and Italy’s Michela Moioli.
2014 Olympic gold medallist Samkova earned her third overall World Cup crown with the win, with Moioli beaten into second – the pair having combined to take every World Cup title since 2016.
But it is Bankes who is the rising star, and her determination is striking her out as a real medal contender.
The big final in Switzerland saw the Brit taken down by France’s Julia Pereira de Sousa Mabileau, when the latter crashed after failing to stick a landing.
But Bankes got back up and, despite not being able to catch the front two, showed the guts that has taken her to near the summit of her sport.
Sportsbeat 2021