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Switzerland's Fatton wins women's ski mountaineering sprint on Olympic debut / Photo: © AFP
Switzerland's Fatton wins women's ski mountaineering sprint on Olympic debut
Switzerland's Marianne Fatton won Olympic gold in the women's ski mountaineering sprint in Bormio on Thursday in the event's debut at the Winter Games.
Fatton clocked a winning time of 2min 59.77sec on the Stelvio course, depriving France's four-time World Cup champion Emily Harrop by 2.38sec.
Spain's Ana Alonso Rodriguez claimed bronze, 10.45sec down on Fatton's pace.
Harrop, a four-time World Cup overall champion, had been hot favourite in skimo, an adrenaline-packed sprint requiring athletes to negotiate uphill climbs on ski and foot before descending by ski.
But she paid the price for a slow second transition.
After an initial ascent, Harrop was neck-and-neck with Fatton as the pair took off their skis to climb a stairway on foot.
Skiers have to re-don their skis at the top for one final climb, and Fatton was much slicker than Harrop, racing away to a lead she never looked likely to relinquish.
M.Hill--SFF
