The inaugural Olympic showcase of ski mountaineering reached a thrilling crescendo on Saturday at the Stelvio Ski Centre, as France’s Emily Harrop and Thibault Anselmet combined technical brilliance with raw speed to claim the first-ever gold medal in the Mixed Relay at the Milano Cortina Winter Olympics. Following a week that already saw the sport capture global attention during Thursday’s individual sprints—where Switzerland’s Marianne Fatton and Spain’s Oriol Cardona Coll were crowned the first Olympic champions—this final event shifted the focus to national teamwork.
For Harrop and Anselmet, the gold represents a triumphant second trip to the podium in Milano Cortina. Harrop, who secured silver in the women’s sprint, and Anselmet, the men’s sprint bronze medalist, proved to be the ultimate pairing, clocking a combined time of 26:57.4. Their victory was a masterclass in lead management, though it was not without its moments of heart-stopping tension as the world’s elite nations pushed them to the absolute limit across the alternating four-lap format.
The race began with Emily Harrop setting a blistering pace that signaled France’s intent from the first ascent. She navigated the technical transitions with the precision that has made her a multi-time World Cup champion, building a 3.3-second lead at the first transition and widening that gap to nearly ten seconds by the time she handed over to Anselmet. While the individual champions from Thursday, Fatton and Cardona Coll, remained within striking distance for their respective nations, the French duo seemed to find an extra gear in the transitions, a critical factor on the steep, snowy slopes of Bormio.
However, the middle stages of the race saw a monumental surge from the Swiss. Fresh from her gold-medal performance on Thursday, Marianne Fatton delivered a spectacular second lap, cutting into the French lead with relentless uphill power. A slight stumble from Harrop during her second stint allowed the Swiss champion to narrow the gap to a mere 1.3 seconds at the final handover. With the gold suddenly hanging in the balance, Thibault Anselmet was forced to dig deep. Under immense pressure from Switzerland’s Jon Kistler, Anselmet produced a flawless final climb and a daring descent to cross the line nearly 12 seconds ahead of the Swiss, securing silver for Team Switzerland (+11.9).
The battle for the bronze medal provided the afternoon’s most agonizing drama. Spain’s Ana Alonso Rodriguez and Oriol Cardona Coll crossed the line in third, after an absolutely brutal last leg from Oriol Cardona, but their celebration was temporarily put on ice as officials reviewed a penalty for Ana’s stepping outside the changing zone in her last transition. After a tense wait, a three-second penalty was assessed to Rodriguez for the transition error, but the Spanish pair’s lead over the rest of the field was enough to keep them on the podium (+26.5). For Spain, this bronze marks a historic milestone—their third medal of these Games and the nation’s best-ever haul at a Winter Olympics, a testament to the dominance of Cardona Coll and the incredible resilience of Rodriguez.
Perhaps the most significant statement of the day came from the fourth-place finishers. Team USA, represented by Anna Gibson and Cameron Smith, delivered an astonishing performance to finish just outside the medals. Their fourth-place finish (+39.1) ahead of several traditional European powerhouses proved that the American program has grown exponentially and is now a permanent fixture in the sport’s “big leagues.” Their ability to compete at the highest level on the legendary Stelvio slope suggests a bright future for Skimo as it continues to expand its global footprint.
The local Italian favorites Giulia Murada and Michele Boscacci secured fifth place (+51.7) after a hard-fought battle in front of their home fans, while Team Austria, represented by Johanna Hiemer and Paul Verbnjak, crossed the finish line in 6th. They were closely followed by the German team of Tatjana Paller and Finn Hösch (+1:42.04) and the Chinese pairing of Yuzhen Cidan and Bu Luer (+2:24.22), who showed remarkable technical consistency throughout the four laps.
The Polish couple of Iwona Januszyz and Jan Elantkowski finished in a remarkable 9th place, followed by Norway’s Ida Waldal and Hans-Inge Klette in tenth, and next on the finish line were the Slovakian team of Marianna Jagerčíková and Jakub Šiarnik in eleventh. Australia’s Lara Hamilton and Phillip Bellingham rounded out the finishers, ensuring that all twelve starting nations crossed the line to complete this historic chapter in Olympic history.
As the sun set over the Bormio mountains, the successful debut of ski mountaineering was complete. From the individual glory of Fatton and Cardona Coll on Thursday to the French national triumph on Saturday, the sport has delivered elite athleticism and high-stakes drama in equal measure. For Emily Harrop and Thibault Anselmet, they leave Italy not just as double medalists, but as the first pioneers to claim relay gold under the five rings.
