Nick Baumgartner (14-1) and Faye Thelen (14-2) hug after their run during the mixed team snowboard cross finals at the Winter Olympics in Livigno, Italy, Sunday. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)

LIVIGNO, Italy (AP) — Move over Torvill and Dean. Britain has a great, new Winter Olympics pairing.

Charlotte Bankes and Huw Nightingale won the first gold medal on snow in the island country’s 102-year history at the Winter Games after crossing the line in front Sunday in the wild sport of mixed snowboardcross.

The U.S. team of Faye Thelen and Iron River’s Nick Baumgartner, both in their fifth Olympics, were eliminated in the quarterfinals

Britain’s most famous Winter athletes to this point: possibly Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean, the ice-dancing due who captivated the world by skating to “Bolero” and captured a gold medal in 1984 and bronze in 1994.

In mixed snowboardcross, the first set of riders go down the mountain four-wide, while the second set waits at the top of the hill in something resembling a relay race. Whichever team crosses the line first in the four-team final gets gold.

There are three rounds of elimination racing. Fittingly, the British came into the final as the underdog — seeded 13th out of the 16 teams that qualified.

There were no real signs this was coming. Bankes finished 13th in the women’s event and Nightingale 26th in the men’s event last week. But everything came together on a sunny day in Livigno that will be part of history back in the skiers’ hometowns in England, which typically only sees smatterings of snow about 14 days a year.

“We regrouped as a team and saw our families,” Bankes said. “That was super important for us to be able to come out today and perform. My coach said, ‘Go out there and have fun, keep the smile on your face.'”

They smiled all the way to the end of “God Save the King” — the first time the British national anthem has played during a medals ceremony at a ski, snowboard or biathlon course at the Olympics.

Mixed snowboardcross came into the Olympics four years ago, and America’s Lindsey Jacobellis teamed with Baumgartner to win gold a few days after Jacobellis broke through with her first title in the women’s event.

Baumgartner has not ruled out returning for a sixth Olympic appearance in four years. If he qualifies for the next games, he will be 48 years old.

Both Baumgartner and Thelen are parents. Baumgartner’s son, Michigan State student Landon, was on-site.

“I just race different when my son’s at the bottom of the course,” Baumgartner said. “Look out! Dad’s coming down!”

Thelen has two young children.

“I wasn’t going to leave them back in Utah with my husband or any other childcare,” Thelen said.

“My daughter is 7 months old and she doesn’t even know that she exists at this point,” Thelen said with a laugh before Sunday’s race. “I guarantee my son’s going to have his head in the snow. It probably won’t look that magical, but to me, it will be.”

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The Daily News contributed.