BORMIO, Italy (AP) — Thanks to ski mountaineering, Emily Harrop has a rank in the French military of chief sergeant.
Because of the newest Winter Games sport, she could soon have another title — Olympic champion.
Harrop is among the favorites as a sport that combines uphill and downhill skiing makes its Olympic debut at the Milan Cortina Games on Thursday with individual sprint races. It's a chance to showcase ski mountaineering — skimo for short — to the world after a long wait.
“It’s funny being at the end of the Olympics, watching it all from home on our screens,” said Harrop, who's part of the French military program called ”Armée des Champions" (Army of Champions). “It’s still hard to realize we’re going to be on the screen. It’s really exciting.”
For Harrop, the pressure isn't so much trying to become skimo's first crowned Olympic champion. No, the pressure arrived years earlier when she reached a decision she may need to walk away from the sport. Finances were being stretched too thin between training, travel and school.
It was time, she figured, to get a real job. Maybe become a ski instructor — she was an Alpine ski racer before turning to skimo — or a marketing representative for a skimo brand.
Right about then, in 2021, it was announced that skimo was going to be added to Olympic program.
A change of plans.
She enlisted in the military and the Army of Champions program, which helps develop top-level athletes. Harrop, who's won four straight overall World Cup titles, trains alongside biathletes and Alpine ski racers. That's helped pave the road to get here, the starting line at the Stelvio ski center in Bormio.
“It was a life-changing moment,” she said of joining the program. "Such a huge opportunity for me. Because I wasn't that far away from quitting.”
Growing up in the French Alps, Harrop had many adventures in her “back garden,” the term she uses for the vast mountains. Ski racing was her first passion. She was fast, too, winning the downhill at the national junior championships in Tignes, France, in 2015.
“But I got a bit injured,” she explained.
Time for something new. She always enjoyed venturing into the backcountry with her family to explore the snow-covered trails. That's what led her to skimo when she was around 20 years old.
In no time, she was winning races - lots of races.
Dubbed the "Queen of Sprint,” she didn't lose a World Cup sprint competition during the 2024-25 season, including the test event held on the Bormio slope last February. Marianne Fatton of Switzerland won the sprint title at the 2025 world championships.
The individual sprint features a bracket-style setup. The top finishers keep advancing until they reach the final, which consists of six athletes.
Each heat is a race to the top with an assist from “skins,” which are pieces of fabric that allow athletes to hurry uphill but prevent sliding backward. After removing the skins, it's a race to the bottom.
The medal favorites include Harrop, Fatton and Ana Alonso Rodriguez of Spain. On the men's side, it's Spain's Oriol Cardona Coll, Thibault Anselmet of France and Switzerland's Jon Kistler.
“It's going to be such a rich experience,” Harrop said.
Harrop also figures to be in the medal picture Saturday in the mixed team relay with Anselmet.
“They’ve been competing together for years, they’ve done the relay together for years, and they know each other well,” said Leo Viret, the coach of the French team. "That helps performance.”
If things go well in Bormio, the sport may be back for the 2030 Winter Games held in the French Alps — Harrop's “back garden.” For now, skimo remains a proposed sport. That’s why the racers want to put on a good show.
“We're really looking forward to bringing skimo to the world and getting it out there," Harrop said. “We’re such a niche sport in general that this is the way for us to get people to know what we’re all about.
"There's so much great stuff to be shown and seen and told.”
AP Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics
FILE - France's Emily Harrop celebrates at the finish area as she wins the women's sprint race at the Ski Mountaineering World Cup event in Bormio, Italy, Feb. 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Antonio Calanni, File)
