Bormio (Italy) (AFP) - Emily Harrop and Thibault Anselmet combined to win gold for France in the mixed relay event of Olympic ski mountaineering in Bormio on Saturday.

Harrop and Anselmet clocked a winning time of 26min 57.44sec in the relay, finishing 11.86sec ahead of the Swiss duo of Marianne Fatton and Jon Kistler.

Spain’s Ana Alonso Rodriguez and Oriol Cardona Coll rounded out the podium (+26.5).

“It’s a crazy feeling. The Olympics are the top of any athlete’s dream,” said Harrop.

“To be in the top place today with such a strong field out there, it’s just crazy.”

Harrop said she and Anselmet had a strategy “to start off hard and to put everyone in difficulties”.

“But that includes ourselves!” the 28-year-old said. “I knew that it was going to be a hard race until the end.”

Harrop, a four-time World Cup overall champion who was born in the French Alps to English parents, was in dominant form in her opening leg.

A silver medallist in the individual sprint, Harrop built up a healthy lead over Switzerland’s Fatton and Spain’s Alonso Rodriguez, the sprint gold and bronze medallists respectively.

Anselmet maintained that lead over Kistler and men’s sprint champion Cardona Coll.

Ski mountaineering is making its Olympic debut at the Milan-Cortina Games and while the ‘skimo’ sprints offered a condensed version of the sport, the mixed relay proved to be a true lung-busting race.

The 12 teams of two had to negotiate two ascents plus a steep section of steps on foot with skis attached to the backpack.

The athletes are required to employ all their technical nous to transition efficiently, stripping off reusable ‘skins’ that give their skis grip for climbing so they can freely ski down two descents.

- ‘We deserve it’ -

Harrop’s second tour around the course on the Stelvio piste saw her extend the lead over her female rivals to more than 27sec.

There was drama as Alonso Rodriguez missed one of the transitions, overskiing the line, which resulted in a 3sec time penalty.

Kistler pushed Anselmet, cutting the Frenchman’s advantage to 8sec at one stage.

Anselmet pushed on, his smooth metronomic movements belying the intense physical effort required on the unrelenting course.

And there was joy in his face as he skied down the final descent, poles clutched in one hand, his other fist raised in triumph as he came through the line.

Harrop was on hand to celebrate the gun-to-tape victory with her teammate, having added Olympic gold to their world mixed relay crowns won last year and in 2023.

“I think we deserve it,” said Anselmet, who won bronze in the men’s sprint. “It’s always good to be at the front. Emily always does a good job.

“I needed to do my best, and I was really good in my head today, not like in the sprint where I was a little nervous.”

Skimo was first introduced at the 2020 Youth Olympic Winter Games in Lausanne and its inclusion in these Games was approved by the International Olympic Committee a year later.

Backcountry skiing is an ever-growing market in winter sports and the International Ski Mountaineering Federation (ISMF) found the perfect window in which to showcase its extreme sprint version and mixed relay event to a wider public.