France run riot in Cardiff to hammer Wales 54-12 and keep Grand Slam dreams alive

Team GB's Matt Weston and Tabitha Stoecker won gold in the mixed doubles skeleton hours after Charlotte Bankes and Huw Nightingale claimed victory in the snowboard cross mixed team final

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Team GB made history on Sunday after winning two Winter Olympic gold medals in one day for the first time, after Matt Weston and Tabitha Stoecker have won the mixed doubles skeleton.

The duo's thrilling victory came hours after Charlotte Bankes and Huw Nightingale won the snowboard cross mixed team event, taking Britain’s overall medal haul to three, all gold.

Weston, who had already won gold in the men's event, clawed back a deficit of 0.30 seconds after Stoecker's run to claim victory for the pair.

The British duo won the gold by 0.17 seconds, with a track record time of 1:59.36.

Germany's Susanne Kehrer and Axel Jungk took the silver, with their fellow countrymen Jacqueline Pfeifer and Christopher Grotheer finishing just 0.01 behind them to claim bronze.

Weston and Stoecker's British team-mates Marcus Wyatt and Freya Tarbit finished just outside the medal places in fourth.

The victory means Weston has made history by becoming the first British athlete to win two medals at the same Winter Olympics.

He was given a tough task by Stoecker, after her run of 1:00.77 left them 0.30 seconds off the pace of the Germans.

But Weston showed why he was the best skeleton racer in the world with a sublime 58.59secs run to clinch his second gold of the Games.

Following the triumph, Stoecker was quick to thank her partner for the win, telling reporters: "Thanks [Matt]. I can't believe it. It's a team effort and when Matt came down and we were in the green, I was just in shock."

Weston added: "Luckily I felt like I knew what I needed to do. I took a load of confidence from the individual event and I almost had to 'be boring' to get the job done and do it again."

The victory comes hours after Bankes and Nightingale made amends for their disappointing efforts in their individual events with an astonishing performance to secure Britain's first ever Winter Olympic title on snow.

Following their victory, Bankes said she was "lost for words".

"Huw put me in an amazing position, he's been riding extremely well and rode today to his full potential," she said.

"I was in that start gate, knowing I was going for gold."

Nightingale had set up Bankes perfectly to secure the gold after crossing the line in second place behind France's Loan Bozzolo.

Bankes then used her speed on the board to take the lead and beat Italy's Michela Moioli to the line by 0.43 seconds.

It marked a second successive silver in this event for Moioli and Lorenzo Sommariva, while Bozzolo and Lea Casta took bronze.

The victories mark the first time Team GB has won more than one gold medal at a single Winter Olympics.

Bankes, a former individual world champion and two-time overall World Cup winner, was heartbroken when she exited the women's event in the quarter-finals on Friday, having been tipped to win a medal.

Nightingale was also below-par during the men's competition, where he exited in the round of 16.

But the 24-year-old found form to produce his best and most attacking racing alongside Bankes.

"It's immense. I think we push each other well and for me, I know that Charlotte Bankes is behind me and she's such an incredible rider that it kind of loosens me up," Nightingale said.

"I know that when I'm loose, I can ride really well and I think we've shown that today. The singles were tough but now there are tears of joy."

After winning their quarter-final and semi-final races earlier today, the duo, who had been seeded in 13th place for the event, were confident of a podium finish, as there was only four teams in the medal race.

But nothing was guaranteed and Bankes looked stunned as she crossed the finish line, coming to a stop at the barriers and hugging an ecstatic Nightingale.