Snowboarding World Championships: Charlotte Bankes fails to defend cross title

Bankes went into the 2022 Winter Olympics as world champion, having won the 2021 title in Sweden

Charlotte Bankes has failed in her bid to defend her cross title in the Snowboarding World Championships.

Bankes, who in 2021 became the first Briton to win a world title on a snowboard, crashed out in heat one of the competition in Bakuriani, Georgia.

The 27-year-old has been in good form on the World Cup circuit, having picked up two golds and a bronze this season.

Former Olympic champion Eva Adamczykova of the Czech Republic won the world title, with Josie Baff in second.

Australian Baff finished ahead of American Lindsey Jacobellis, who added to her record as the most decorated female snowboard cross athlete of all time.

Adamczykova, 29, who won Olympic gold in 2014 but missed the 2022 Winter Olympics through injury, said: "Because I changed my surname [from Samkova after getting married], I had to win it because Adamczykova doesn't have any gold medals!

"I'm just kidding, it's amazing. I had a great feeling though and I just wanted to enjoy it and give it my all.

"I didn't have to save anything, I was just pushing so hard, especially in the final because it's so tight these days unlike four years ago," added Adamczykova, who also won the 2019 world title.

"I couldn't be happier because in the autumn I thought I was never going to snowboard again."

Great Britain's Huw Nightingale, failed to qualify past the first round of the men's snowboard cross.

Austria's Jakob Dusek claimed the world title, with Germany's Martin Noerl finishing second and Italy's Omar Visintin in third.

Charlotte Bankes and Huw Nightingale will be back in action in Thursday's snowboard cross team event, which will be live on iPlayer, BBC Sport website and app from 06:15 GMT.