MILAN - Emily Harrop will aim to go one better than the French men's alpine ski team when she takes to Bormio's Stelvio course for the Olympic debut of ski mountaineering, or 'skimo', on Thursday.
The French men failed to garner a single medal on the piste at these Milan-Cortina Games.
But Harrop has touched down in northern Italy as hot favourite for victory in skimo, an adrenaline-packed sprint requiring athletes to negotiate uphill climbs on ski and foot before descending by ski.
Harrop, a four-time World Cup overall champion, and her teammate Thibault Anselmet are the current world mixed relay champions.
The 28-year-old Harrop, born in the French Alps to English parents, also won gold in the first-ever Olympic ski mountaineering test event, held in Bormio last year.
For the sport's Olympic debut, there will be 36 athletes from 14 nations, with full gender balance and representation from four continents.
Skimo was first introduced at the 2020 Youth Olympic Winter Games in Lausanne and its inclusion in these Games was approved by the International Olympic Committee a year later.
Backcountry skiing is an ever-growing market in winter sports and the International Ski Mountaineering Federation (ISMF) has found the perfect window in which to showcase its extreme sprint version.
"The Olympic competitions represent one expression of ski mountaineering," said ISMF head Regula Meier.
"The sport itself is broader. From compact sprint formats demonstrating technical precision within a contained venue footprint, to individual, vertical and long-distance team events that test endurance across expansive mountain terrain.
"Olympic inclusion strengthens the visibility of this entire landscape."