Emily Harrop & Thibault Anselmet win Ski Mountaineering Mixed Relay at Milano Cortina 2026

13:58
France gold! Switzerland silver. Spain bronze.
Emily Harrop & Thibault Anselmet win the Mixed relay. Silver for Marianne Fatton & Jon Kistler. Bronze for Ana Alonso Rodriguez & Oriol Cardona Coll

13:57
Plot twist: yellow card for Oriol Cardona Coll! But the 3 second penalty won't change the overall standings.

13:55
Final lap... France and Switzerland are playing for the gold medal. But the real battle is for bronze, between Italy, the USA, and Spain. Thibault Anselmet is on fire. Fast as lighting. A machine. He doesn't miss a beat.

13:49
Lap 3. Today the race is dominated by France. Emily Harrop & Thibault Anselmet extend their lead, 26 seconds ahead of Marianne Fatton & Jon Kistler, and a full 37 seconds ahead of Ana Alonso Rodriguez & Oriol Cardona Coll. Then USA and Italy, in fourth place. Fatigue is starting to set in. Especially on the steps. You have to stay clear-headed, especially then on the descent. 
 
13:41
We're already at the first men's lap. An exciting race today. Anselmet maintains the lead, extends it to 10 seconds. The battle behind him is between Spain, Italy and Germany.

13:33
And they're off: immediately in the lead is the French team composed of Emily Harrop & Thibault Anselmet (FRA). Switzerland provisional second, Italy third.

13:25
Here are the teams
Alba de Silvestro & Michele Boscacci (ITA)
Emily Harrop & Thibault Anselmet (FRA)
Ana Alonso Rodriguez & Oriol Cardona Coll (ESP)
Marianne Fatton & Jon Kistler (SUI)
Johanna Hiemer & Paul Verbajak (AUT)
Tatjana Paller& Finn Hoesch (GER)
Iwona Januszyk Poland (POL)
Anna Gibson & Cameron Smith USA (USA)
Ida Waldal & Hans-Inge Klette (NOR)
Cidan Yuzhen & Bu Luer (CHN)
Marianna Jagercikova & Jakub Siarnik (SVK)
Lara Hamilton & Phillip Bellingham (AUS)

10:50
The heavy snowfall that defined Thursday’s sprint races in Bormio has cleared, leaving a pristine and high-stakes stage at the Stelvio Ski Centre for the final act of ski mountaineering’s Olympic debut.

At 13:30 today, the quiet of the Bormio mountains will be replaced by the frantic energy of the Mixed Relay, a discipline that shifts the spotlight from individual brilliance to national performances. Following the historic victories of Switzerland’s Marianne Fatton and Spain’s Oriol Cardona Coll, the focus now turns to which country can best navigate the tactical track of the relay to secure a place in the record books.

The Mixed Relay is perhaps the most spectator-friendly format in the sport, designed for high-intensity shifts and rapid-fire changes. Each team consists of one woman and one man representing the same National Olympic Committee, who must complete the circuit twice each in a predetermined Woman-Man-Woman-Man order. The race is a relentless 30-minute sprint where every second in the transition zones counts. Athletes must skins-up for a grueling climb, transition to a foot section where they carry their skis on their backs to scale the now iconic Bormio steps, and then rip their skins off for a high-speed descent back to the handover zone. The exchange itself is a moment of pure pressure, requiring a physical hand-touch in a designated zone before the next teammate can explode onto the course.

The battlefield for the Mixed Relay at the Milano Cortina Winter Olympics remains the lower slopes of the legendary Stelvio, with the course starting and finishing at 1200 metres. While the vertical gain on each round will be 135m, which may seem modest to elite climbers, the explosive nature of the relay means athletes will be racing at their absolute aerobic limit. The technical diamond section and the slippery mountain steps will likely be the deciding factors, as seen during Thursday’s sprints where small errors in these zones cost many athletes their podium dreams.

Mixed Relay Race Track
The Mixed Relay competition will take place on a course largely identical to the one used for the 2025 test event, offering a familiar yet demanding layout at the foot of the Stelvio. The track features approximately 135 meters of vertical gain and is designed to challenge athletes for around 30 intense minutes.

From the start, athletes face a steep 50-meter climb, leading into a small flat section of about 60 meters. They then continue on a straight climb of roughly 80 meters to the first transition. The first descent features parabolic turns and technical complexity, bringing athletes to the second transition. Exiting the transitions quickly, competitors enter the “diamond” section, where positioning will be critical.

The second diamond section follows closely, demanding both power and tactical awareness for those aiming to gain an advantage. The course then transitions to a slightly flatter section with a 10% gradient before reaching a key 10-meter vertical push—one of the most decisive parts of the track, where gaps are likely to form.

Next, competitors tackle a 20% slope over a 100-meter section before reaching the final transitions. Skins are removed for the downhill portion, which includes a series of challenging turns, parabolic bends, and jumps, leading directly to the finish line. Athletes are expected to arrive at high speed, put their skins back on at the last transition, and hand off to their partners.

In the Mixed Relay, maintaining a steady pace and executing all six transitions per loop efficiently will be crucial to winning the race.