Swiss ace Franjo von Allmen has won the first, and perhaps most prestigious gold medal of the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics when he beat two skiers from hosts Italy for victory in the blue riband men's downhill.
On a picture-perfect day in Bormio, von Allmen powered through the challenging Stelvio course in 1 minute 51.61 seconds, good enough to withstand the charge of Italy's Giovanni Franzoni, who finished with the silver medal.
Franzoni's teammate, the 36-year-old Dominik Paris, took the bronze, knocking all-time Swiss great Marco Odermatt off the podium.
