Historic podium sweep for France in the women’s Sprint race

February 19, 2023
3:59 pm

For the first time in the World Cup Sprint race history, three women from one country finished on the podium: Emily Harrop, Léna Bonet and Célia Perillat-Pessey.

Val Martello (Italy), 19 February 2023 – The fast and furious Sprint race rounded off the fifth stop of the WÜRTH MODYF ISMF World Cup in Val Martello, Italy, where 65 men and 38 women had to tackle a course that started with a flat part, followed by a steep section on foot and the last part on skis as well. The technical descent to the finish also proved to be key during the race. Due to the strong winds, the breaks between heats were shortened, which made it more difficult for athletes to recover.

An historic morning that saw another epic battle between Arno Lietha and Oriol Cardona Coll on the men’s side, and an incredible podium sweep for France on the women’s category, led by Emily Harrop.

Best friends dream come true
The women’s race was a fairytale for the French team. Three French women made it to the final and the three of them finished on the podium. Emily Harrop, the best female sprinter this season, won the race ahead of her best friends Léna Bonnel and Célia Perillat-Pessey.

“This is a race to remember for a long-long time. We’ve been thinking about this and… It’s so emotional, an amazing day and a perfect race. I’ll never forget the feeling in the finish when I looked back and saw Léna and Célia crossing the line behind me,” Harrop said with tears in her eyes.

Head coach Thierry Galindo was also touched by the big French day: “During quarter-final and semifinal, we began to think about the full French podium. The girls were powerful, and they did it. We are happy to go into the World Championship with this result and confidence.”

Giulia Murada of Italy had a great opportunity today to build a lead in the overall standings as Axelle Gachet-Mollaret skipped the Sprint. However, after a mistake and a crash in the quarter-finals, the Italian was not able to take advantage of it. After the fifth round of the World Cup series, Murada still leads but she is only two points ahead of Perillat-Pessey, with third-placed Gachet-Mollaret 41 points behind.

Lietha conquered the exhausting final
The men’s race also brought great emotions already in the quarter-finals. The three best sprinters of the last seasons – Arno Lietha (Switzerland), Oriol Cardona Coll (Spain) and Iwan Arnold (Switzerland) – were in the first one. And the trio also met in the semifinals and finals.

In the final deciding run, Lietha got off to a fast start, building a slight lead that Carona Coll could not make up. The Swiss athlete won the 7th Sprint of his career and consolidated his position as the current Number 1 in the Olympic discipline.

“That was one of the toughest races. Iwan, Oriol and I were already together in the quarter-final and finished on the final podium. It says everything. It was a hard battle from the start of the day, and winning the final required digging deep,” said Lietha.

Thibault Anselmet of France has increased his overall lead on the rankings. With five races to go, Maximilien Drion du Chapois (Belgium) sits in second place, 133 points behind him. Third overall is Robert Antonioli, who is 193 points behind.

The next World Cup stage will be in Schladming, Austria, on 18-19 March. Before that, all the athletes will gather from 27 February in Boi Taull (Spain) for the ISMF World Championships.

Press photo gallery HERE.
For the results, click HERE.