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.
"It feels kind of like a movie, not really real," von Allmen said.
"I can't tell you what it means to me. I will get it a few days after the Olympics are over."
Odermatt had to settle for fourth, 0.20 seconds off the podium in a race contested by only 36 skiers on the treacherous 3442m piste, which is among the most famous on the World Cup circuit with its dramatic vertical drop of 1023m.
"It's not what I was hoping for. I had a good feeling actually, but it was just not fast enough," admitted overall and downhill World Cup champion Odermatt, who will be hoping for better results in the super-G and in the giant slalom where he got gold in 2022.
Von Allmen keeps the Olympic downhill title in the Swiss family, with Beat Feuz having won the event at 2022 Beijing Games before retiring.
The 24-year-old von Allmen sometimes flies under the radar of his pal Odermatt, who's won four straight overall World Cup titles.
They're fast friends and friendly rivals. They share course information but hold a little back, too. Turns out, von Allmen had the better inside track on the demanding hill.
It's been quite a run for von Allmen, who also won the downhill at the world championships in Austria last winter.
The stands were packed with flag-waving fans, with the biggest cheers reserved for the home hopes, Franzoni and Paris.
This is a breakout season for the 24-year-old Franzoni, who's from Manerba del Garda, located about 200km south of Bormio. More specifically, it's been a breakout 22 or so days, after he won a World Cup super-G in Wengen, Switzerland, in January.
With agencies
