Winter Olympics live: Charlotte Bankes knocked out of snowboard cross as Matt Weston bids to end medal drought – UK Times

Here we go. Bankes went out at this stage four years ago.

She starts okay but makes an error and drops back into fourth!

Baff and Adamczykova stretch a lead at the front but Bankes manages to recover.

It comes down to the last section, a little touch with Siegenthaler and Bankes veers off course!

She finishes fourth and that’ll be it for her medal hopes.

Charlotte Bankes is running in the first quarter-final.

She’s up against Australia’s Josie Baff, Sina Siegenthaler of Switzerland and the Czech Republic’s Eva Adamczykova.

This is a tough group. Top two head into the semi-finals.

20-year-old Lea Casta of France takes the victory in heat eight and looks very impressive.

Casta won the Crystal Globe in the 2024/25 campaign as the overall World Cup winner beating Charlotte Bankes in the process.

Can she add an Olympic medal to her record?

Heats five and six come and go pretty quickly and without major issue.

Italy’s Michela Moioli takes the win in heat six with Mia Clift of Australia taking the second qualifying spot.

Just the two heats left to go.

Heat four sees the United States’ Stacy Gaskill put in an impressive run but she can only manages second place behind Julia Nirani-Pereira of France.

Nirani-Pereira shot out of the gate and got the best start of any rider so far.

She was ahead by quite a way and never relinquished her lead throughout the run.

Four heats to go before the quarter-finals.

Six heats to go before the quarter-finals. Charlotte Bankes has done the first job but there’s still plenty of racing to be done before the medals are decided.

In heat three Faye Thelen of the USA leads the way but falls back into third. A fine turn shoots her back into second and she clinches a place in the quarters.

Chloe Trespeuch of France takes first place.

Charlotte Bankes is up next in heat two.

She starts on the third gate and gets a good start to the race.

She comes out behind Abbey Wilson in second place, she takes a high line around the corner and leads into the final section.

Bankes leads over the final jump and Switzerland’s Sina Siegenthaler comes through to clinch second place!

The knockout rounds have begun. Czech Republic’s Eva Adamczykova is in the first heat and the No.1 seed finishes second behind Josie Baff of Australia.

Both women are through to the quarter-finals.

Adamczykova was half a second quicker than anyone else in the seeding runs but in had to head racing like this it comes down to fine margins.

Charlotte Bankes says that she has been focused on reaching the Olympic podium since crashing out in the quarter-finals at Beijing four years ago.

“It’s been the main focus for the last four years, but I know that I just need to focus on my riding,” Bankes said.

“For me to actually be able to ride at my full potential on race day, if I manage to do that I’ll be happy and satsifed.

“I know if I’m doing that, I’m probably going to be fast, so it should end up in a good result as well.”

2025 was shaping up to be Charlotte Bankes’ year. By April, the snowboarder was leading the World Cup standings with five wins and had just picked up a silver medal in the World Championships, only pipped to gold by a dramatic photo finish. She was on track for a third Snowboard Cross World Cup title in four years, the ideal preparation for her fourth Olympic Games.

Then she broke her collarbone, and suddenly her Olympic year was flipped upside down.