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Swiss racer Franjo von Allmen won the Olympic men’s downhill Saturday to capture the first gold medal at the Milano-Cortina Olympic Games.
On a picture-perfect day in Bormio, Italy, von Allmen powered through the challenging Stelvio course in one minute, 51.61 seconds. His time was good enough to withstand the charge of Italy’s Giovanni Franzoni (1:51.81), who took silver.
Franzoni’s teammate, Dominik Paris, had a run of 1:52.11 to claim the bronze medal, knocking Switzerland’s Marco Odermatt (1:52.31) off of the podium.
Franjo von Allmen of Switzerland finishes first in the men’s Olympic downhill with a time of 1:51.61.
Von Allmen keeps the Olympic downhill title in the Swiss family. Beat Feuz won the event at 2022 Beijing Games before retiring.
The top Canadian was Toronto’s Jack Crawford (1:53.00), who finished 1.39 seconds back of von Allmen to take ninth place.
“I’ve been struggling a little bit to find form and confidence in my skiing. And today I thought I finally brought that,” Crawford, who won bronze in the combined event four years at the Beijing Olympics, said.
“I definitely brought a level that could have won the race today. I just made a few mistakes here and there that unfortunately cost me that podium.”
One of those mistakes “basically killed all my speed,” he lamented.
Other Canadian results included Cam Alexander, of North Vancouver, B.C., in 14th; Jeff Read, of Canmore, Alta., was 25th; and Brodie Seger, also of North Vancouver, finished 28th overall.
Toronto’s Jack Crawford places ninth in the men’s downhill at the Milano-Cortina Winter Games.
The 24-year-old von Allmen sometimes flies under the radar of 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 won the downhill at the world championships in Austria last winter.
The stands were packed with flag-waving fans. Some of the biggest cheers were reserved for Franzoni and then, the next racer to go, Paris.
Italy won their first medals of the Milano-Cortina Olympic Games, as Giovanni Franzoni won silver and Dominik Paris took bronze in the men’s downhill race in Bormio, Italy.
This is a breakout season for the 24-year-old Franzoni, who’s from Manerba del Garda, located about 200 kilometers south of Bormio. More specifically, it’s been a breakout 22 or so days. He won a World Cup super-G in Wengen, Switzerland, on Jan. 16 and followed that up with a downhill victory in Kitzbuhel, Austria, the following week.
Paris knows this course well, having won seven World Cup races at the venue. He hails from Val d’Ultimo, which is about three hours away — or a 15-minute helicopter ride.
It was Paris’ first Olympic medal in his fifth Winter Games. He now becomes a bronze medalist in addition to being the vocalist of a heavy metal band called “Rise of Voltage.”
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