By Martyn Herman
BORMIO, Italy, Feb 7 (Reuters) – Swiss young gun Franjo von Allmen produced a stunning descent of the fearsome Stelvio slope to win the Olympic Alpine skiing men’s downhill on Saturday as illustrious teammate and race favourite Marco Odermatt missed the podium.
The 24-year-old von Allmen barely put a ski off line as he blazed down the sunlit piste at speeds of near 140 kph to win in 1:51.61, smashing Odermatt’s mark by 0.70 seconds.
“It feels like a movie, it’s crazy,” Von Allmen said after claiming the first gold medal of the Milano Cortina Games in front of hundreds of Swiss fans who had crossed the nearby border armed with flags and cow bells.
“I felt relaxed in the morning and tried to keep the good feeling from the training runs and fit all the pieces together.”
There had been high hopes that a strong cohort of Italian speed men could give the host nation the perfect start to the Games by winning the country’s first Olympic men’s downhill gold since 1952 in front of 7,000 fans.
But it was not to be.
Italian youngster Giovanni Franzoni – barely four months older than Von Allmen – produced a near-perfect run as well but was left clutching silver, 0.20 behind, while veteran Dominik Paris, the Stelvio king with a record six downhill wins on the famous slope, bagged his first Olympic medal with bronze, 0.50 seconds off the pace.
“It’s great to have this home crowd here. It’s my fifth Olympics, and getting the first medal in front of the home crowd, that’s really special,” the 36-year-old said.
The 28-year-old Odermatt has dominated men’s Alpine skiing for half a decade and was favourite to deliver Swiss gold in the blue-riband event and add to his giant slalom gold at the 2022 Games. But it was not his day as he finished fourth.
“I actually felt very good on the snow, on the slope, I had a good run,” the World Cup leader said. “I don’t know what I would change right now if I could do it again.
“It was just not fast enough.”
When Odermatt, the seventh skier down, crossed the line to snatch the lead from teammate Alexis Monney, it seemed it could be enough for the Olympic downhill gold he has prioritised.
But he was in the leader’s chair all too briefly as Von Allmen delivered one of the great Stelvio runs.
COMPLETE COMMAND
Von Allmen had described the punishing 3.2 km course as nerve-racking days before, but he looked in complete command on the day. Mixing aggression with smooth lines, he soared over the spectacular San Pietro jump that was launching skiers 50 metres through the air, and poured on the power to the finish.
“I knew it was a good run but to be seven tenths ahead of Marco, I was surprised,” said Von Allmen, who lost his father when he was 17 and struggled to fund his skiing.
Franzoni briefly looked as though he might dislodge Von Allmen, as did Paris. But after that the beaming Swiss could soak in the realisation that he would add the Olympic title to the world downhill title he won last year.
He is the fifth Swiss man to win the Olympic downhill after Bernhard Russi, Pirmin Zurbriggen, Didier Defago, and Beat Feuz – the winner in Beijing four years ago.
As expected, the Stelvio delivered the perfect stage for the first of the Alpine ski races at the Games, and thankfully all 36 starters emerged unscathed on a course stacked with danger.
France’s Maxence Muzaton drew gasps from the fans when he lost control on the final steep pitch to the finish, but he slid to safety and was cheered when he arrived at the bottom.
(Reporting by Martyn Herman; additional reporting by Marleen Kasebier and Lisa Jucca; Editing by Ken Ferris and Hugh Lawson)
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