(Photo courtesy of Huw Nightingale)
Bolton-born snowboarder Huw Nightingale has his sights set on a first Olympic medal, inspired by his gold-winning Paralympian cousin, Matt Rotherham.
This February, Team GB’s Nightingale will take centre stage in Snowboard Cross at his second Winter Olympics, held in Italy, competing in both the individual and mixed team events.
He will be aiming to bring a medal back to his family, who also boast track cyclist Matt Rotherham, who piloted Neil Fachie to Paralympic gold in the men’s track time trial in Tokyo.
Speaking on a video call, a few days away from the Opening Ceremony of the games, Nightingale said: “I think it would be great to have two gold medallists in the family. That kind of just inspires me – to see what he’s done – and I want to do the same as he did.”
The Olympics are a great opportunity to showcase sports that do not benefit from widespread coverage in the in-between years, including snowboard cross. But the barriers to entry, particularly in the UK, are hard to ignore.
“Nowadays, it is an expensive sport, especially living in the UK. You have to travel to different countries unless you’re doing it in the snow dome. But then you’ve got flights, you’ve got accommodation, you’ve got lift tickets. If you’ve not got your own stuff, you’ve got to rent it.”
The 24-year-old was born in Bolton, but moved to Austria at the age of five, where he developed his passion for snowboarding.
“It’s especially hard in the UK to get young kids to go snowboarding because it is such a hard thing to do, because there’s no proper mountains in the UK. Whereas with nations like Austria, Switzerland, France, you know, it’s at their doorstep, so they get enough athletes. I think on the youth side, it would definitely be a good thing to try and boost that.”
Nightingale’s best opportunity of a medal comes in the mixed event, in which he placed sixth with Charlotte Bankes in Beijing.
“That was the first time we ever raced together,” said Nightingale. “But you know, there’s been, what, four years now, and we’ve done loads of races together, and we’re just good as a team. We know what our strengths are.”
Since 2022, the pair have won gold at the 2023 FIS Snowboarding Championships in Bakuriani, Georgia, claiming Great Britain’s first ever snowboard cross mixed team title and pinning them as favourites going into this year’s Games.
“I think for me and Charlotte, that’s exciting,” said Nightingale. “We just want to show our best. And if we ride our best, both of us, I think it will be a good chance for a medal.”
The Men’s Snowboard Cross event kicks off on Thursday 12th of February, with the Mixed Team event taking place on Sunday 15th.