Franjo Von Allmen stuns on the downhill to become first Olympic Champion of Milano Cortina

Franjo von Allmen (SUI) became the first Olympic champion of Milano Cortina 2026 in a superb downhill run in Bormio.

In a season so far dominated by the Swiss duo of Marco Odermatt and von Allmen, it was the latter who put in a barely believable run, taking his season form directly onto the top step of an Olympic podium with a dominant outing to add an Olympic title to his World Championship win.

His run of 1:51.61 was more than enough to secure Olympic gold, with the home duo of Giovanni Franzoni (ITA) and Dominik Paris (ITA) joining him on the podium in a thrilling opening day of alpine action.

Franjo’s INCREDIBLE Olympic beginning

Games nerves? They don’t exist for Franjo von Allmen. It’s been a season like no other for von Allmen, World Cup victories aplenty to his name. And on the Stelvio course, he wasted no time as an Olympian to achieve the biggest moment of his career.

In a run that was incomparable to anything seen on the day, von Allmen found the secret on Stelvio. "The secret? Try to enjoy skiing" the new Olympic champion explained. "I was really relaxed in the morning and tried to keep the good feelings from the training, fit the pieces together and just have fun from skiing."

Having gone out just after Odermatt, von Allmen created an almighty 0.70s gap in the process to lay down what was ultimately an unbeatable time. "I felt it was a good run without any mistakes but I was surprised by myself. The time showed me it was actually a good run, not just the feeling.

"I can't tell you what it means to me" the new Olympic champion said. "I will get it a few days after the Olympics are over. For now, can you imagine doing better at the Olympics?"

The Story of the Downhill

There’s nothing like the opening day of an OIympics. The men brought things from the off in the downhill, the iconic Stelvio course the setting for pace and flight in the pursuit of glory. Daniel Hemetsberger proved that from the off, the Austrian up first and defying a training run crash to set the pace among the first five.

It then became the turn of the Swiss racers. First up came Alexis Monney, defying the bounce to set the time to beat. But Marco and Franjo were to come next. The 2022 Giant Slalom champion was a picture of relief on crossing the line, 0.05s ahead of Monney as the season leader took momentary charge.

But Franjo von Allmen did something stunning from the eighth run. A champion on the downhill a week earlier in Crans Montana, he took World Cup form into these Games and didn’t drop a beat. With his teammates in his sights, von Allmen passed the test in sector after sector, recording the best time in four of them at the time of crossing the line. It meant that Odermatt’s lead was temporary, as a logic-defying 1:51.61 blew aside that advantage, leaving a 0.70s difference between the Swiss season leaders.

It was soon the turn of the home Italians, for whom much was expected. Giovanni Franzoni was up first, aiming to build on a superb name-making season that already has seen him add World Cup victories to his collection. He brought the pace in the finale, cutting the lead of von Allmen to 0.20s to move into temporary silver.

And it wasn’t just for the time being either. Dominik Paris, a man who has made this course his own over the years aimed to do so once again. On a course that has seen him pick up seven World Cup titles over the years, Paris burst out of the blocks but lost time towards the end, ultimately crossing in third as Italy took their positions in home medal territory.

An Italian double on the podium

This downhill was a huge opportunity for the Italian team. Heading into a home Games in impressive form, the team of Franzoni, Paris, Mattia Casse and Florian Schieder all had dreams of Olympic podiums in front of home fans, and two of them were able to achieve it.

Franzoni’s home silver comes after a superb few months in the World Cup season, as he also moved to an Olympic podium on his debut day. “It’s such an amazing feeling" a jubilant Franzoni said. "This morning I was pretty calm but at the start I was more nervous. I saw the runs from the Swiss guys and they were better and better. I thought it would be so hard to beat them, but I skied pretty well. Maybe too jerky, but taking the speed to the bottom. And to share the podium with Franjo after the Junior World Championships, he’s such a great guy."

It's a full-circle moment for von Allmen and Franzoni. The duo were on the top two steps at the 2022 Junior World Championships, with the order that day seeing Franzoni claim the World title.

Dominik Paris: Olympic medallist. “It sounds awesome!" a delighted Paris admitted after his race. "I tried so long and so hard and having this success, with a home crowd, on a course that is my favourite, it means a lot. I think San Pietro and the last split was not so good. I tried to push but had to hold the line and was maybe not aggressive enough. But I was skiing well, had really good sensations and it was really fun to ski today."

At a fifth Games, Paris' dreams have been achieved. Unsurprisingly, he couldn't quite explain just what it means. "I don't know, I don't have feelings at the moment. Maybe when the prize ceremony starts that will change and I will understand what's happened to me. It's my fifth Olympics, and getting the first medal in front of the home crowd, that's really special."

Coming up next

This was simply the starting point for an Olympic Games that promises to deliver magic in abundance. This Sunday, the action switches to Cortina d’Ampezzo as the women’s downhill competition begins, where gold is the target.

And from here, the pace doesn’t stop. We’re only a day into six consecutive days of finals, with the Team Combined and Super G coming up from February 9th to 12th.

Keep an eye on our channels and across FIS Alpine social media for all the big information. And for the full results from the downhill, click here.