Winter Olympics 2026: Franjo von Allmen wins first gold of Games in downhill

Swiss skiers had held all three podium positions earlier than the Italians entered the beginning gate, with Franzoni and Paris knocking off Alexis Monney after which Odermatt with spectacular performances in sunny Bormio.

Paris is seen as a king of this course, having gained seven World Cup titles throughout each downhill and the Super-G, and he gained a primary Olympic medal at his fifth Games.

“Getting the first medal in front of the home crowd, that’s really special,” he stated.

But for the Italians, their medal success is available in what has been an emotionally troublesome season, 5 months after the loss of life of their team-mate Matteo Franzoso in a coaching crash.

Franzoso suffered a head harm in a collision with a fence in La Parva, Chile, in September.

Last month, after successful World Cup gold at prestigious Kitzbuhel, Franzoni stated he had raced with Franzoso “in his mind” after the 2 had shared a room on the course a 12 months beforehand.

“To share the podium with Franjo, after [doing so at] the junior world championships [in 2022], he’s such a great guy,” stated Franzoni.

“Also with Domi, I really wanted to share a podium with him. I don’t know if he’ll continue racing next year but this is the biggest stage to share.”

As a junior, Franzoni used to race in opposition to Jannik Sinner, who was a standout skier earlier than pursuing tennis.

In reality, Sinner, now a four-time Grand Slam champion, as soon as beat Franzoni in 2009, one thing he was made conscious of after the latter’s super-G victory in Wengen earlier this 12 months.

Sinner adopted Franzoni on social media and the pair have since struck up a friendship.

“Receiving a message from a champion like him gave me a lot of motivation,” stated Franzoni after his Kitzbuhel win.

“I thought, ‘If he wrote to me, it means I’m doing something right’. It’s been something really, really nice for me.”