Von Allmen Wins Men's Downhill in 1:51.61 for the First Gold of Milano Cortina 2026
On February 7, 2026, the first gold medal of the Milano Cortina Winter Olympics was decided: at the Stelvio course in Bormio, in the Province of Sondrio in Italy's Lombardy region, Switzerland's Franjo von Allmen won the men's downhill in alpine skiing in 1:51.61, becoming the first Olympic champion of these Games. The International Ski and Snowboard Federation (FIS) reported the race.
Starting eighth, von Allmen followed his teammate and race favorite Marco Odermatt, who had taken a momentary lead; von Allmen's 1:51.61 blew that advantage away by 0.70 seconds and was never beaten. The home nation took the other two podium places: Giovanni Franzoni won silver, 0.20 seconds back, on his Olympic debut, and 36-year-old Dominik Paris took bronze, his first Olympic medal at his fifth Games, on the Stelvio course where he has won seven World Cup races. Odermatt finished fourth.
Von Allmen, 24, is the reigning world downhill champion and had won the World Cup downhill in Crans-Montana a week earlier. He said afterward that it felt like a movie, that he had been relaxed in the morning, and that the secret was to enjoy skiing; he felt the run was without mistakes but was still surprised by his own time. Franzoni said he had been calm in the morning but nervous at the start, and that sharing the podium with von Allmen was special: the two had taken the top two steps at the 2022 Junior World Championships, where Franzoni won.
Switzerland thereby kept the Olympic men's downhill title, after Switzerland's Beat Feuz won it at the Beijing 2022 Games.
Related: Milano Cortina Winter Olympics Open With Four-Site Ceremony and Two Cauldrons Lit at Once
Source: International Ski and Snowboard Federation
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：瑞士选手 Franjo von Allmen 在博尔米奥斯泰尔维奥赛道参加米兰—科尔蒂纳2026冬奥会男子滑降比赛（2026年2月7日）。Dispe 摄，CC0，经 Wikimedia Commons。 / Photo: Switzerland's Franjo von Allmen racing on the Stelvio course in Bormio in the men's downhill at the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics (February 7, 2026). Photo by Dispe, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons.
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