American Marconi Wireless News - France win Olympic ski mountaineering mixed relay

Harrop and Anselmet clocked a winning time of 26min 57.44sec in the relay, consisting of two ascents plus a section on foot with skis attached to the backpack for each ascent and two descents.

The Swiss duo of Marianne Fatton and Jon Kistler claimed silver, 11.86sec behind, with Spain's Ana Alonso Rodriguez and Oriol Cardona Coll rounding out the podium.

Harrop, 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 Carona 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.

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.

A.Mahlangu--AMWN