Emily Harrop & Thibault Anselmet win Mixed Relay at Cortina Ski Mountaineering World Cup

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After dominating the Sprint race at the ISMF World Cup Finals in Cortina d’Ampezzo yesterday, Emily Harrop and Thibault Anselmet found an extra gear to claim also the victory on the Mixed Relay. Team France deliver another magnificent performance to round up the season with the Nations ranking title.

It was Inigo Martinez de Albornoz (ESP) who led the first segment of the race, followed closely by Thibault Anselmet (FRA), Paul Verbnjak (AUT) and Patrick Perreten (SUI), with Michele Boscacci (ITA) a few meters behind, but with the leading group always on sight.

As soon as they were tagged by their teammates, Emily Harrop (FRA) and Johanna Hiemer (AUT) made it clear that they wanted to break the race as soon as possible, and opened a gap that by the time that they finished their first lap, it was of almost 15 seconds with Alba de Silvestro (ITA), Ana Alonso Rodriguez (ESP) and Marianne Fatton (SUI).

The second turn for the man was a thrilling chase, with Team Italy bridging the gap to do the last handover to the women just 12 seconds behind the leaders but the last leg was a magnificent display for Team France, with Anselmet proving that he is really hard to beat on these distances, and making the final push to cross the finish line in first place. A victory for Team France that also put them in the second place of the final Mixed Relay season rankings.

A great last effort from Paul Verbnjak paid off and Team Austria grabbed the silver medal, while Boscacci (Team Italy) managed to pass in the last meters Inigo Martinez (ESP) and Patrick Perreten (SUI) to claim the last spot of the podium.

With their bronze medal today, Team Italy was crowned champion of the Mixed Relay rankings in 2023/2024, while Spain managed to keep the third place overall, despite finishing in fifth place today.

"We are absolutely thrilled, today’s race was really exciting, this is a superb course", said Harrop. "Cortina fits us really well, both of us won the Sprint race and the crystal globe yesterday and now to finish the season with this is amazing. We are very proud of how we managed the race today, the way we fought and our performance", explained Anselmet.

The final day of competition in Cortina put an end to the 2023/2024 season that has France winning the World Cup Nations Ranking, with 3765 points, followed by Switzerland (3714 points) and Italy (3345 points). Spain was fourth with 2358 points and Austria closed the top five with 2249 points.