BORMIO, Italy — Swiss skier Franjo von Allmen brought home the first gold medal awarded at the Milan Cortina Winter Games by winning the downhill men’s race Saturday.
It’s also von Allmen’s first Olympic crown, and it came in his very first Olympic race.
Not so long ago, it wasn’t clear if there would be any “firsts” ahead for him in ski racing. As a teenager, and after the death of his father, von Allmen didn’t have the money for the sport — until a crowdfunding project helped out.
Now the 24-year-old is king of the downhill.
On a picture-perfect day in Bormio, von Allmen powered through the challenging Stelvio course in 1 minute, 51.61 seconds to keep the Olympic downhill title in the Swiss family. His time was good enough to withstand the charge of Italy’s Giovanni Franzoni, who finished less than a quarter-second (.20) behind to secure the silver medal. Franzoni’s teammate, 36-year-old Dominik Paris, had a fast run to take bronze and knock Marco Odermatt of Switzerland off the podium.