• Charlotte Bankes and Huw Nightingale win a thriller

• First time GB have won two golds at a Winter Games

A drinking session, a punch on the nose, an equipment malfunction. It sounds like a typical Saturday night in Hemel Hempstead or Bolton. But it turned out to be the unlikely recipe behind Team GB’s first gold medal on snow at the Winter Olympics – after 102 years of trying.

Amid dramatic scenes in Livigno, Charlotte Bankes and Huw Nightingale carved their way into Team GB history with a staggering display of devilry and nerve to secure mixed snowboard cross glory. For good measure, it was the first leg of what turned out to be Britain’s greatest day at the Winter Games with Tabitha Stoecker and Matt Weston also later winning gold.

• Kateryna Kotsar gets engaged at end of qualifying run

• ‘It was so cute … it’s two really huge things for me’

For most athletes, qualifying for your first Olympic final would be more than enough excitement for one night. But the Ukrainian freeskier Kateryna Kotsar’s evening was just getting started.

Having made the big air final, Kotsar then wrote “freedom of memory” on her glove to protest against the ban of her compatriot Vladyslav Heraskevych for wearing images of slain athletes on his helmet. And a Valentine’s Day she will never forget took another surprise turn when her boyfriend, Bohdan Fashtryha, then dropped to one knee and proposed.

• Norwegian-born skier storms to historic slalom gold

• ‘Your difference is your superpower,’ says 25-year-old

As the snow fell in Bormio, and the fog settled in, Lucas Pinheiro Braathen made history by becoming the first South American to win a Winter Olympic medal. Then, as the realisation that he had won gold for Brazil in the men’s giant slalom, he collapsed to the floor and allowed the tears to flow.

“I just hope that Brazilians look at this and truly understand that your difference is your superpower,” he said, still sobbing away. “It may show up in your skin or in the way you dress. But I hope this inspires every kid out there who feels a bit different to trust who you are.”

• Kennedy insists he is innocent of any wrongdoing

• World Curling says officials will clamp down on violations

The Canadian curler at the centre of a cheating row at the Winter Olympics has denied any wrongdoing, accusing the Swedish team of deliberately trying to “catch us in the act”.

On Saturday, World Curling confirmed that Canada had escaped punishment despite being accused of breaking the rules in the 8-6 victory over Sweden on Friday night. However, the sport’s governing body did warn Canada about their abusive langugage and introduced emergency spot checks on Saturday afternoon to make sure teams were not cheating when releasing the stone.

• Vladyslav Heraskevych says ‘Cas has failed us’

• President Zelenskyy hails skeleton racer’s courage

The Ukrainian skeleton racer Vladyslav Heraskevych has been awarded the order of freedom by president Volodymyr Zelenskyy following the controversial decision to bar him from the Winter Olympics.

Heraskevych flew to Munich after losing his appeal against his exclusion at the Milano Cortina Games for wanting to wear a “helmet of memory’ in competition. “Remembrance is not a violation,” Zelenskyy told him. “Ukraine will always have champions and Olympians.