Switzerland Strikes First As Franjo Von Allmen Dominates The Downhill Slopes, Hosts Italy Complete Podium

In alpine skiing, men’s downhill, Switzerland’s Franjo von Allmen recorded the first time among 36 finalists at the Stelvio Ski Centre.

Switzerland Strikes First As Franjo Von Allmen Dominates The Downhill Slopes, Hosts Italy Complete Podium

Switzerland’s Franjo von Allmen cruised to his first gold medal at his debut Olympics with a time of 1:51.61 in the men’s downhill (Image via @Olympics on X)

🔍 Explore this post with:

ChatGPTPerplexityGrok AIGoogle AI

After a sensational performance, Franjo von Allmen continued Switzerland’s dominance in alpine skiing with the first gold of the Milan Cortina Games 2024, posting a time of 1:51.61. Italy’s Giovanni Franzoni (+0.20) and Dominik Paris (+0.50) secured the silver and bronze positions behind the 2025 World Champion.

After the three medalists from Beijing retired following the Winter Olympics, Allmen’s fellow teammate Marco Odermatt was touted as the favourite to win the men’s downhill. Odermatt, coming to the Winter Olympics as the 2025-26 Ski World Cup leader, finished fourth behind the medalists with a time of 1.52.31.

The 24-year-old became the first Swiss man to win downhill, joining the ranks of Bernhard Russi (1972), Pirmin Zurbriggen (1988), Didier Défago (2010), and Beat Feuz (2022). The victory also marked the first time since 1980, Lake Placid, that a nation won back-to-back golds in the particular event.

In the aftermath of the culmination of years of struggles and resilience, Allmen was looking for words to describe his feelings. He told NBC:

It feels like a movie, not really real. I can’t tell you what it means to me. For now, can you imagine doing better at the Olympics?

After losing his dad at 17, Allmen returned to skiing after raising money through crowdfunding. He earned a carpentry apprenticeship and worked on construction sites to support his dream, which has now come true.

While Allmen stood out with the best finish among the 36 skiers put to test in Bormio, it was the Italians who had the biggest cheer. Franzini and Paris combined for the Italian’s twelfth-ever time, placing two medal positions in a single event. The 36-year-old Paris also became the oldest Italian to win a medal in alpine skiing, surpassing 1952 Oslo downhill champion Zeno Colò, who was 31 years and 231 days old when he claimed his title.

Meanwhile, Team USA’s best hope, Ryan Cochran-Siegle, struggled, finishing in eighteenth position, 2.02 minutes behind the gold medallist. Kyle Negomir had the best finish of the four US alpine skiers in 1:53.20.

Marco Odermatt admitted being frustrated after losing out on a podium by 20 hundredths of a second

Marco Odermatt, with the bib number 7, started ahead of Franjo von Allmen and cruised to the first place with a comfortable margin. His happiness was short-lived as Allmen in bib 8 completed ahead of Odermatt’s time of 1.52.31 and pushed him to the second position.

Marco Odermatt (Image via EPA)
Marco Odermatt (Image via EPA)

The Italian pair raced 11th and 12th, pushing Odermatt to fourth place and out of medal contention. In the aftermath of his performance, Odermatt admitted that he hoped for a comfortable medal with his finish time. On reflection, he added that while he did not lose significant time in any single section of the men’s downhill course, small time losses across multiple segments might have ultimately added up.

It really sucks to be fourth at the Olympic Games. That’s about the worst place you can have. To be honest, I don’t know where I could have been faster. I was very happy with my run at the finish. That makes it a bit easier. In the end, I think I consistently lost some time in every section.

Odermatt had a near-perfect finish; however, he was a bit slower compared to his compatriot in the lower sections of the slope. The 28-year-old has since shifted his focus to correcting those shortcomings ahead of the upcoming events. He’s scheduled to participate in 2 or 3 events, including the men’s giant slalom.

Also Read