Winter Olympics 2026: France’s Emily Harrop on ski mountaineering debut and Great Britain roots

Emily Harrop says she was born with bindings on her feet and poles in her hands.

On Thursday, she could have a Winter Olympic medal around her neck.

As a three-time world champion in ski mountaineering, the 28-year-old is a hot favourite to be on the Milan-Cortina podium as the sport makes its Olympic debut.

And yet, in a parallel world, it could have been the red, white and blue of the union jack flying in her honour, and not that of the French flag.

Born in the French Alps to an English mother and father, she was initially an alpine skier and was downhill British champion in 2015 – but choosing her allegiance was never given much thought.

“My dad wanted me to go with the Brits,” Harrop told BBC World Service’s More Than The Score podcast.

“I’ve grown up in France and all my coaches, all my training partners, it’s all been through the French system. It was hard for me to turn my back on all that.”

Harrop only took up ski mountaineering – or skimo for short – as a 20-year-old after injuries veered the course of her career away from alpine skiing.

“In skimo, when I started at least, the British team didn’t really exist and they weren’t actually competing on the World Cup,” she said. “So the question [of allegiance] didn’t really get asked.”

And Harrop has never looked back. She goes into the Olympics as a three-time world champion in the mixed relay and team events, with silver and bronze individual medals also to her name.

She has twice won the Pierra Menta – “the Tour de France of the skimo world” – and has four overall World Cup titles.

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